Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speak at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Matt Rourke/AP
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Matt Rourke/AP
Prominent Republicans who endorsed Vice President Harris are urging other party members to back the Democratic candidate instead of former President Trump.
In a meeting billed as a virtual “Republicans for Harris” rally, former elected officials and party leaders made the case for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on Tuesday night.
Former Rep. Denver Riggleman, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, is an advisor to the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. He described Trump as a “conspiracy theorist” and a “conspiracy theorist.”
“When you see the data and the horrors that I saw — you see the command and control infrastructure of January 6th, as a Republican, I cannot vote for anybody who is anti-Constitutional,” Riggleman said.
Some Republicans on the call supporting Harris said that while they don’t agree with all of Harris’ policies, they believe Trump would endanger American democracy.
“If the Harris team wins and prevents the sudden death of American democracy, we can happily return to debates about marginal tax rates and the role of government in health care, and all the other issues that have shaped our politics for generations,” said Craig Snyder, head of a group called Haley Voters for Harris.
Snyder’s team recently received a cease and desist letter from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination. Noting Harris’ record as a former prosecutor, Snyder said he was trying to make the case for Harris to former Haley supporters and other center-right voters that Harris and Walz would run from the center-left.
Speakers also sought to position themselves — rather than Trump supporters — as the true inheritors of Republican tradition, by invoking former Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and the Bush family.
Austin Weatherford, National Republican Participation Campaign manager Harris noted that President George W. Bush had Trump description as “strange” before Walz apply the term for the Republican candidate.
Rina Shah, one political strategist and former RNC delegate, has framed a key Democratic ballot issue this year, abortion rights, in language designed to appeal to small-government conservatives. Shah was referring to the “draconian bans” that Republicans have supported in many states since the election. Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“When I saw that happening, I thought it was the opposite of the Republican Party that I grew up with,” Shah said. “I don’t want the government in my backyard, my bedroom, my bank account, and certainly not in my doctor’s office.”
Overcoming the fear of discrimination and rejection from Republican loved ones is also an important theme.
Rosario Marin, who served as US Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush, described voting for Trump as “unacceptable,” but acknowledged that voting for a Democrat could strain some people’s relationships.
“It’s not easy to vote outside your party,” she said. “You may lose friends. Your neighbors may disagree with you. Family gatherings may become uncomfortable. But at the end of the day, I can assure you that in your heart you will know that you did the right thing, and it was a noble and worthy cause.”
Former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh admitted that it “takes a lot of courage” for many Republicans to publicly break away from their party, but said it was necessary.
“You have to come out and say, ‘I’m a Republican; I’m a conservative; and I support Kamala Harris,’” Walsh said. “That takes courage, but remember — Donald Trump is not qualified to be president.”
Organizers said more than 70,000 people tuned in to the live call, in which speakers urged Republicans to support Harris through volunteering and publicly backing her campaign.
