White House Democratic nominee Joe Biden is receiving the endorsements of more than 50 former Republican national security officials Thursday.
The group, called Former Republican National Security Officials for Biden, launched in August with 70 members. The newest members, in a story first exclusively reported by Reuters, now bring the group’s total to almost 130 officials who have publicly broken with President Donald Trump, whom Biden hopes to unseat in just over a month.
“We are former national security officials who served during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and/or Donald Trump, or as Republican Members of Congress,” the organization said. “We are profoundly concerned about the course of our nation under the leadership of Donald Trump. Through his actions and his rhetoric, Trump has demonstrated that he lacks the character and competence to lead this nation and has engaged in corrupt behavior that renders him unfit to serve as President.”
The group is running full-page newspaper ads in seven states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and Texas, as well as a TV ad on “Fox & Friends.”
Earlier this week, Cindy McCain, the widow of Republican Sen. John McCain, joined Biden’s presidential transition team. McCain, who endorsed Biden last week, will offer input as the team turns its campaign promises into policies to implement if he wins the election. She is the second Republican on the team, joining former Obama administration Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald.
Another organization of former GOP lawmakers, called Republicans for Biden, formed earlier this year in an effort to elect the former vice president to the Oval Office.
Other organizations of Republicans backing Biden include Republican Voters Against Trump and 43 Alumni for Biden, a Super PAC which formed in July and consists of hundreds of officials who worked for George W. Bush.
The Super PAC says its goal is to “unite and mobilize a community of historically Republican voters who are dismayed and disappointed by the damage done to our nation by Donald Trump’s presidency.” As a Super PAC, the group’s members are forbidden by law from working with or communicating with the Biden campaign, but they can raise unlimited amounts of money to support the candidate.
Trump and Biden met for the first time on a debate stage Tuesday, a chaotic and messy affair in which both men frequently interrupted each other, and with the president sparring with moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News.
After the debate, the Biden campaign said it raised $3.8 million from 10 to 11 p.m. EDT, which it called its “best online fundraising hour of all time.”
On Thursday, Biden’s campaign announced it also raised more than $21 million Wednesday, the day after the debate, the single best fundraising day for Biden so far.
In the wake of Tuesday night’s debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates said it is mulling changes to the candidates' next two encounters including cutting off the candidates' mics when they talk over each other.
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