Ex-Republican U.S. national security officials to support Biden candidacy

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Former national security officials who were Republicans are to support Biden in his presidential bid against Trump.
• The group is composed of GOP figures who were also against the 2016 endorsement of Trump.
• Biden camp said they plan to form a big coalition against Trump to ensure their victory.

According to sources close to the group, many Republican former U.S. national security officers are creating a team that will help Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. This development is another indication that President Donald Trump has isolated some personalities of the party.

The assembly will publicly recommend Biden in the next few weeks. The drive also confirmed they would campaign for the former vice president against Trump for this year’s presidential election.

The group comprises no less than two dozen officials who worked under Republican former Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. Sources also said there are also dozens more to join the effort.

The Republicans against Trump allegedly said four more years of a Trump leadership would put the country’s national security in jeopardy, noting that Republican voters must see Biden as the better candidate despite differences in policy.

The unnamed sources said John Bellinger III and Ken Wainstein spearhead the initiative, both former officials who served under George W. Bush administration.

Sources also named Robert Blackwill, who worked as a foreign policy adviser for both the Bush administration and envoy to India during George W. Bush’s term. The group also tapped other officials and independent individuals, sources confirmed.

While the official launching of the initiative is yet to be announced, the group could join Biden during his official endorsement at the Democratic National Convention in August.

Current opinion polls indicate that Biden has a wide advantage against Trump.

Trump’s bid for reelection has remained unchallenged in the Republican party despite harsh criticism from several retired military officers and former officials of his administration in the past few weeks.

The reproach was triggered by Trump’s endorsement of militarized response to demonstrations across the nation against discrimination and police violence. Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak is oftentimes attacked as well.

Some groups, which are anti-Trump Republicans, also are against his bid for the second term, including the Lincoln Project, which was co-chaired by George Conway, spouse of Trump’s counselor, Kellyanne Conway.

The opposition against Trump is not the first time for Bellinger, Blackwill, and Wainstein. In 2016, they were among the 50 Republicans who signed an August 2016 petition against Trump’s Republican presidential nomination.

Responding to criticisms against him, Trump has voiced out contempt for Republican and conservative members who were against him, calling them via Twitter last year as “human scums.”

A spokesman for the Biden campaign, TJ Ducklo, said Trump had ruined U.S. foreign policy and hurt affairs with international allies.

He added that Joe Biden aimed to unite the country again, and his campaign could win through a broad coalition against Trump.

Source: AOL