HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WAVY) — Three more Republican former government officials announced they are voting for Kamala Harris for President.
They are part of a growing number of Republicans who refuse to vote for former Republican President Donald Trump and are switching to Democratic candidates Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. There has not been this type of defection in recent presidential political history.
At last count, there are around 115 former and current Republican officials who have given up on Trump and are saying vote for the Harris/Walz ticket.
The most high profile early Trump defector was former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney. It should also be noted that, at the Republican National Convention, most of the establishment political leaders were missing, like former President George W. Bush.
“They’re saying that we’re still conservatives, we’re still Republicans, but the candidate that represents our party doesn’t represent the values of democracy and conservatism,” said political analyst Dr. Eric Claville. “In the end, they would rather vote for the Democratic candidate that they think would protect democracy.”
Three more Republicans said Thursday in Northern Virginia that they cannot, and will not, support Trump.
“How can we vote for someone who helped ignite Jan. 6, someone who is an apologist for Putin, someone who is immoral, someone who doesn’t understand foreign policy, someone who has such a bad connection to the truth he should not be president of the United States, and that’s why I’m supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz,” said former Virginia Republican Rep. Denver Riggleman.
However, Trump supporter Robert Brown, a former head of the Norfolk Republican Party, criticized people calling themselves Republicans who refu
Trump supporter Robert Brown is a former head of the Norfolk Republican Party,
“Well, they are no longer Republicans if you leave the party, and you support a candidate independent or democrat then in our state party plan you are longer a Republican.
Former Virginia Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock said that Harris “is someone who will protect our democracy and who will stand with our allies who will stand with President Zelenskyy and Ukraine.”
Said Claville: “I believe that the more deflections you have of your base, the more deflections that you have of those that carry the same party affiliation. It is detrimental to anyone’s campaign.”
Brown was a delegate for Trump at the Republican National Convention.
“I don’t think it hurts Trump,” Brown said. “I think the argument is he is doing a great job. The argument is it’s about the economy and the border and inflation — that simple. That’s what bothers everyone. … Are you better off now than you were four years ago? No.”
Claville said a major reason for defections are Project 2025 and the perception that Trump supports it.
“It would provide sweeping power to the executive level and decimate, in theory, in practice, the balance of government that we have in our executive, our legislative, and judicial branches,” Claville said.
What does Brown think about Project 2025?
“2025? That’s the Heritage Foundation. That is not Trump’s plan,” Brown said. “He’s actually spoken out against it. That’s an independent think tank.”
Claville, in speaking about the election, brought up the the old political adage, “so, in politics it is not who’s with you, but who’s against you. That’s what’s important.”
