Since Vice President Kamala Harris took over the Democratic ticket, she’s received support from many prominent conservatives — who are largely endorsing Harris out of their opposition to Donald Trump. They have said that the former president is amoral, crude, and “simply untenable” — so much so that they will be defecting from their own party when they vote for president in November.
Harris last month signaled that she could reach across the aisle when filling out her Cabinet, should she win the race. “I have spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when some of the most important decisions are being made that have different views, different experiences,” Harris told CNN. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”
Below is an incomplete list of Republicans who are throwing their weight behind the vice president.
The former Republican congresswoman endorsed Harris during an event at Duke University on Sept. 4. She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.
“I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Cheney said. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. And because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.”
Cheney was the vice chairwoman of a committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “We owe it to the American people to investigate everything that led up to, and transpired on, January 6th,” she said in 2021. “We will not be deterred by threats or attempted obstruction and we will not rest until our task is complete.”
The committee ultimately referred Trump to the Justice Department for prosecution. Earlier this year, Trump called for Cheney to be put in jail.
Dick Cheney
Despised by liberals during George W. Bush’s presidency, Dick Cheney is apparently voting for Harris, too.
Speaking on Sept. 6 at the Texas Tribune Festival, Liz Cheney said, “Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris,” prompting cheers from the audience.
Later in the day, Dick Cheney released a statement endorsing Harris.
“In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump,” he said. “He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again. As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Harris touted the endorsement in a statement from her campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon. “The Vice President is proud to have the support of Vice President Cheney, and deeply respects his courage to put country over party,” she said, adding: “For every voter who cares about America and understands the fundamental threat Donald Trump poses to our democracy and our Constitution, this campaign has a home for you.”
Jimmy McCain
The late Sen. John McCain’s youngest son, Army 1st Lt. Jimmy McCain, said in early September that he would be voting for Harris.
“Many of these men and women, who served their country, chose to do something greater than themselves,” McCain told CNN. “They woke up one morning, they signed on the dotted line, they put their right hand up, and they chose to serve their country. And that’s an experience that Donald Trump has not had. And I think that might be something that he thinks about a lot.” McCain served in the military for 17 years.
Trump famously insulted John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, in 2016 when he said, “He’s not a war hero. He is a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” When the senator died, Trump reportedly told his staff: “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral.”
Olivia Troye
Troye, who worked on national security issues for Vice President Mike Pence during the Trump administration, spoke at the DNC as well.
“To my fellow Republicans, you aren’t voting for a Democrat; you’re voting for democracy. You aren’t betraying your party; you’re standing up for our country,” she said.
Troye resigned from the administration in 2020.
John Giles
The Republican mayor of Mesa, Arizona, endorsed Harris in an op-ed for the Arizona Republic.
“Now more than ever, we need leaders who will put country over party,” he writes.
“We can choose a future for our children and grandchildren based on decency, respect and morality,” he adds, “or succumb to the crudeness and vulgarity of Trump and J.D. Vance and the far-right agenda they would champion.”
Geoff Duncan
Georgia’s former Republican lieutenant governor endorsed Harris in an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He also spoke at the DNC.
“Many asked if my choice to support Vice President Kamala Harris for president was difficult,” he writes. “Let’s be clear: there’s not an ounce of regret in my decision. I care far more about the future of our country — the one that my kids and their kids will inherit — than I do the future of Donald Trump.”
Duncan was a prominent public critic of Trump following his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Stephanie Grisham
Trump’s former White House Press Secretary spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August in support of Harris.
She said that Trump has “no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.”
“I love my country more than my party,” Grisham continued. “Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people and she has my vote.”
Grisham resigned from her job as Melania Trump’s chief of staff the evening of the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Adam Kinzinger
The former Illinois congressman spoke at the DNC in support of Harris. “I’m proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward alliance to defend truth, democracy, and decency,” he said.
He added: “Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong. He is a small man pretending to be big. He’s a faithless man pretending to be righteous. He’s a perpetrator who can’t stop playing the victim. He puts on quite a show but there’s no real strength there.”
Kinzinger is also a senior political commentator for CNN and a Lieutenant Colonel for the Air National Guard.
Barbara Comstock
Comstock, a former Republican congresswoman from Virginia, endorsed Harris in mid-August.
“After Jan. 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy, I think it’s important to turn the page,” Comstock told CNN. “That’s why I will be voting for the vice president.”
Ana Navarro
The Republican co-host of ABC’s “The View” and CNN commentator hosted a night of the DNC. Navarro was recently in Florida as part of a bus tour in support of reproductive freedom.
She has criticized the former president for abortion restrictions, after his conservative Supreme Court appointees overturned Roe v. Wade. “Does Donald Trump think we’re stupid? Does he think we don’t remember?” Navarro said. “Listen, you don’t get to create a problem and then pretend you have the solution.”
In 2020, Navarro posted on Facebook: “I love Kamala Harris. I love her story. Her contagious laugh. Her warmth. Her intellect. Her tenacity.”
Chuck Hagel
Hagel, who was secretary of defense during the Obama administration, endorsed Harris as part of the group Republicans for Harris. He is also a former senator from Nebraska.
Denver Riggleman
The former Republican congressman from Virginia endorsed Harris in the beginning of August.
“I was heartbroken and horrified to see how close we came to losing our democracy on January 6, because of one man — Donald Trump,” Riggleman said in a statement. “I’ve seen with my own eyes how Trump’s thirst for power, revenge, and retribution is his real motivation, and that’s why I cannot stand by while he tries to destroy our country.”
Trump endorsed Riggleman during two different races.
Christine Todd Whitman
The former New Jersey governor and administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the George W. Bush administration endorsed Harris in early August.
“I was a proud Republican, but Donald Trump is unfit to lead our nation,” she said in a statement. “We saw during his four years in office how he consistently chose himself, his pursuit of power, and his billionaire friends over the American people while spewing lies and spreading chaos at every turn.”
Rich Logis
The once pro-Trump pundit spoke in support of Harris at the DNC.
He said that Trump’s response, or lack thereof, to the Covid pandemic was a turning point for him. “I finally stepped outside the MAGA echo chamber, I stopped listening to what Trump said and looked around with my own eyes. And I realized that he had been lying about pretty much everything,” he said.
“We need to be able to trust our leaders,” he continued. “That’s why I’m all in for Kamala Harris.”
Logis was named co-chair of Republicans for Harris in Florida.
J. Michael Luttig
The conservative legal scholar and retired federal appeals court judge endorsed Harris in August over “the war on America’s Democracy that was instigated by the former president and his allies on January 6, 2021.”
Luttig was appointed by George H.W. Bush. He also worked as an attorney in the Reagan White House and clerked for the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Bill Weld
The former Massachusetts governor endorsed Harris in early August.
“Donald Trump belongs nowhere near the White House,” he said. “With democracy hanging in the balance in this election, I’m standing with Kamala Harris to defeat Donald Trump and his attacks on our democratic institutions,”
Weld also worked as an assistant U.S. attorney general under President Ronald Reagan.
Christopher Shays
The former congressman from Connecticut as part of the group Republicans for Harris.
“I am thrilled to support Kamala Harris,” he said. “She’s a very good candidate, and has the possibility and potential of being an excellent president. Obviously time will tell on that.”
“She’s speaking to our better angels,” he added. “Trump, in my opinion, is doing the opposite.”
Shays had previously considered backing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a protest vote.
Joe Walsh
Former Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh visited New Hampshire in late August to campaign for Harris.
“This ain’t about policy,” he said. “We believe, and I think damn near every Republican for Harris believes, that Trump is a genuine threat to our democracy.”
This is a dramatic change for Walsh, who posted on X in 2016: “if Trump loses, I’m grabbing my musket. You in?”
Ray LaHood
LaHood, who served as Transportation Secretary in the Obama administration, endorsed Harris in early August. “I will not support Donald Trump for election,” he said. “I’m on the bandwagon for Vice President Harris.” He added that he was going to do all he could to help her get elected.
Trump “doesn’t represent what I believe we need in the White House,” he said. “Almost all the people that worked with him whether in his cabinet or in the White House either are in jail or have had their reputations besmirched by him.”
Susan Molinari
The former Rep. from New York endorsed Harris in August. “She’s not crazy,” she said.
In 2020, she spoke out against Trump at the DNC. “I’ve known Donald Trump for most of my political career — so disappointing and lately so disturbing,” she said.
Jim Edgar
Edgar, the former governor of Illinois, endorsed Harris when the campaign launched Republicans for Harris in early August.
Former Republican staffers
More than 200 former staffers who worked for former President George H.W. Bush, former President George W. Bush, former Arizona Sen. John McCain, and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney endorsed Harris in an open letter.
“Re-electing President Trump would be a disaster for our nation,” they write. They add: “Of course, we have plenty of honest, ideological disagreements with Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz. That’s to be expected. The alternative, however, is simply untenable.”
Among the signatories are Jean Becker, former President George H.W. Bush’s chief of staff; David Garman, Undersecretary of Energy during the George W. Bush administration; Mark Salter, chief of staff of the office of Sen. McCain; and Greg Brower, U.S. attorney for the District of Nevada.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the letter was “hilarious because nobody knows who these people are.”
