A group of former Republican governors, lawmakers, secretaries, and the like have launched a group aimed at encouraging “never Trumpers” to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.
According to PBS, “Republicans for Harris” will be a “campaign within a campaign” with a particular emphasis on encouraging primary voters who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to vote for Harris (via PBS):
Her team is trying to create “a permission structure” for GOP voters who would otherwise have a difficult time voting for Harris. The effort will rely heavily on Republican-to-Republican voter contact, with the belief that the best way to get a Republican to vote for Harris is to hear directly from another Republican making the same choice.
Austin Weatherford, Harris’ national director of Republican outreach, claimed that Trump’s “extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party of Donald Trump represents their values.”
Weatherford added that the campaign would be “showing up and taking the time every single day to earn the vote of Republicans who believe in putting country over party and know that every American deserves a president who will protect their freedoms and a commander in chief who will put the best interests of the American people above their own.”
According to The Hill, the group already includes at least 25 Republican endorsements. This includes Stephanie Grisham, a Trump-era White House press secretary, Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Reps. Christopher Shays (R-CT.), Joe Walsh (R-IL.), Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL.). Other endorsements came from former GOP Govs. Bill Weld (MA), Christine Todd Whitman (N.J.) and Jim Edgar (IL).
“I encourage other Trump administration officials who saw the tyrant we worked for in office to speak out and stand with Kamala Harris this November to keep integrity in the White House and ensure democracy for our country,” Grisham said in a statement.
Troye added, “The stakes are too high to let partisanship jeopardize our freedoms and the Constitution.”
Last week, Townhall reported how former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley sent a “cease and desist” message to a group known as “Haley Voters for Harris.” The group consists of former Haley voters who are urging people to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
"Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue. Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong," Haley said in a statement shared to Fox News. "I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous."