Ten retired U.S. military generals and admirals are backing Vice President Harris and warning against picking former President Trump in the upcoming election, according to a new letter.
In the National Security Leaders for America letter, first reported by Axios, the former officers write that Harris is the only presidential candidate in the race who is fit to serve as commander in chief, while painting Trump as “a danger to our national security and our democracy.”
Harris “has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in the Situation Room and on the international stage, from rallying our allies against Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine to standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies in the Indo-Pacific against China’s provocative actions, to advancing U.S. leadership on space and artificial intelligence,” they write.
They add that Harris is a staunch supporter of service members, veterans and their families, while Trump “continually disrespects those who serve in uniform, including wounded warriors, prisoners of war, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Included on the letter are three four-stars officers, Adm. Steve Abbot; former deputy Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush, Gen. Lloyd W. Newton; and Gen. Larry R. Ellis.
The former military officers highlight the chaotic 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, placing the blame on Trump’s shoulders for leaving President Biden and Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal after his administration made a deal with the Taliban to pull U.S. service members from the country.
“This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration’s ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk,” they write.
Trump and House Republicans have made the Afghanistan withdrawal a main point of attack on Harris, with the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week releasing a report criticizing Biden for a rushed effort taken against the counsel of allies and advisers that led to the unnecessary deaths of 13 American service members in a suicide bombing.
The report, released after the three-year anniversary of the U.S. exit, highlight’s Harris’s involvement in the decision. It notes that she “appears to have been working in lockstep” with Biden, but offers limited discussion of any specific role she played in the planning or execution of the pullout.
Trump also tried to highlight Harris’s inclusion in the Afghanistan withdrawal at a campaign stop at Arlington National Cemetery, visiting the grave of a Marine killed in the suicide attack. That visit ignited criticism from the Harris campaign and some veterans after cemetery officials said Trump had violated rules prohibiting election-related activities at the cemetery.
The White House, meanwhile, has accused House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership of omitting key details and failing to account for the role of the Trump administration in the deadly withdrawal, defending Biden’s decision to leave.
Trump and Harris on Tuesday are set to debate each other in Philadelphia, their first such event.