US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a moderated conversation with former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye and former Republican voter Amanda Stratton on July 17, 2024 in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Chris Dumond | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign on Sunday flaunted over two dozen presidential endorsements from Republican party members, including some who served in former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Nearly 30 GOP members were cited as part of the new “Republicans for Harris” initiative launched Sunday. These include Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary under Trump, and national security official Olivia Troye — who worked as Vice President Mike Pence’s national security advisor. Chuck Hagel and Ray LaHood, Republican cabinet members under President Barack Obama, were also listed.
By publicly defecting on the Republican presidential nominee, these officials leave a target on their back for attacks from Trump.
“We have to purge the Party of people that go against our Candidates, and make it harder for a popular Republican President to beat the Radical Left Lunatics. Geoff Duncan is a loser who is disintegrating on his own.” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, referring to the former lieutenant governor of Georgia who has endorsed Harris.
The Harris campaign’s new initiative targeting Republican voters comes two weeks since President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Harris. Since then, the vice president has enjoyed a groundswell of early support in the form of record donations, volunteer sign-ups and a surge in the polls — closing the voter gap against Trump.
Despite Harris’ initial momentum, she and Trump are still in tight race that could be decided by just a slim margin of voters in November. That statistical dead-heat is why the Harris campaign is targeting undecided Republicans within who may be persuadable against their party’s nominee.
“Donald Trump’s MAGA extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party of Donald Trump represents their values and will vote against him again in November,” said Austin Weatherford, the Harris campaign’s national director of Republican outreach, in a memo.
“Vice President Harris and our campaign are working overtime to earn the support of my fellow Republicans who care about defending democracy and restoring decency,” he added.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.