A group of 10 retired top US military officers in a letter made public on Monday endorsed US Vice President Kamala Harris, saying she is the only presidential candidate fit to serve as the country’s commander in chief and calling her Republican rival Donald Trump a “threat to our national security and democracy.”
The letter, signed by retired Gen. Larry Ellis and retired Rear Adm. Michael Smith, among others, cites Trump’s derogatory comments toward military members and his own “chaotic approach” ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, including negotiating a deal with the Taliban that allowed up to 5,000 of the group’s fighters to return to the battlefield.
In contrast, he wrote, Kamala Harris “has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in the situation room and on the international stage,” ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Harris is the best — and only — presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander in chief,” he wrote in a letter posted on X by Kamala Harris’ campaign.
The Democratic vice president and Trump, who is seeking re-election for a third time after serving from 2017 to early 2021, face a tough contest in an unprecedented contest ahead of the November 5 election in which the future of American democracy is at stake.
The letter coincides with a new ad from the Kamala Harris campaign released ahead of the two candidates’ Tuesday night debate, in which former Trump officials warn that a second Trump presidency would pose major risks.
“In 2016, Donald Trump said he would only pick the best people to work in his White House. Now, he has a warning for America. Trump is not fit to be president again; he’s afraid of his vice president,” the ad says, followed by videos of Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, former Defense Secretary Mike Esper, former national security adviser John Bolton and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley.
The letter comes a day before House Speaker Mike Johnson is scheduled to hold a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony to honor 13 service members who died in the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021. As Trump and his fellow Republicans have tried to blame Kamala Harris for the Afghanistan withdrawal, those in Congress released a report on Monday.
The retired military officers in their letter accused Trump of “failing to take responsibility for his role in endangering service members”, citing his agreement to free Taliban fighters without involving the Afghan government and not having any plans for withdrawal after he leaves office following his 2020 election defeat.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
