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10 former top military officials endorse Harris, call Trump 'a danger to our national security'
Ten retired top US military officials have announced their endorsement of Kamala Harris in a letter warning that Donald Trump is “a danger to our national security and democracy”.
The statement by the bipartisan group Security Leaders for America, first obtained by Axios, is signed by retired Adm Steve Abbot, who served as deputy homeland security adviser to George W Bush, Gen Lloyd W Newton and Gen Larry R Ellis, who has never previously endorsed a political candidate.
Harris is “the best – and only – presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief,” the letter writes, adding that the Democratic vice-president “has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in the Situation Room and on the international stage.”
Trump, meanwhile, “does not understand selfless service and sacrifice, and he should never be allowed to again serve as commander-in-chief of the greatest fighting force in the world,” the group writes.
The release of the letter coincides with the unveiling of a new Harris campaign ad featuring former Trump officials warning of the threat a second Trump presidency could pose to the country.
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Trump says he will vote yes on Florida amendment to legalize marijuana
Donald Trump has confirmed he will vote in support of a ballot measure in Florida that would legalize recreational marijuana.
“I believe it is time to end needless arrests and incarcerations of adults for small amounts of marijuana for personal use,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday night.
As a Floridian, I will be voting YES on Amendment 3 this November.
He added that as president, he would support the passage of similar laws in other states “that work so well for their citizens”.
Trump, as a resident Floridian, will be able to cast a vote on the state’s amendment 3 in November, which would allow adults over 21 to legally buy and use marijuana without a medical card.
Trump’s support contrasts with Florida’s governor and fellow Republican, Ron DeSantis, who has been a vocal opponent of the ballot measure.
Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has postponed a rally he was scheduled to speak at this evening in Reno, Nevada due to wildfires in the region, his campaign said.
The Davis Fire in northern Nevada has so far scorched more than 6,500 acres and triggered evacuations since starting on Saturday.
Walz is still expected to visit Reno today for other political engagements, the campaign said.
Lauren Gambino
As Kamala Harris and Donald Trump prepare to meet on the debate stage in Philadelphia, the battle over abortion rights has vaulted to the center of the 2024 presidential election campaign, the first since the supreme court’s decision overturning Roe v Wade.
In the bitterly contested race for the White House, abortion remains a glaring vulnerability for the Republican nominee. Celinda Lake, a veteran Democratic pollster, said:
You know it’s an important issue because Trump is trying to change his position.
As a candidate, Trump has held conflicting positions on abortion, alternately boasting that he appointed three of the nine supreme court justices whose votes were decisive in overturning Roe, while complaining that Republican extremism on the issue has cost his party at the ballot box.
He recently appeared to endorse a ballot measure to expand abortion rights in his adopted home state of Florida, only to announce one day later – after sparking backlash among prominent conservative groups – that he would vote against it. He has also previously hinted at support for a 15-week federal ban only to insist that the issue should be left to the states. His campaign has said Trump would not sign a national abortion ban as president.
Harris releases ads targeting Trump on abortion
Over the weekend, the Harris campaign also released thee new TV ads targeting Donald Trump on abortion ahead of Tuesday’s debate that includes comments from the Republican nominee claiming credit for helping overturn Roe v Wade.
The 30-second ad has includes a clip of Trump saying in 2016 that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who seek abortions. It then has a clip of him earlier this year saying: “For 54 years they were trying to get Roe v Wade terminated and I did it and I’m proud to have done it.”
Trump “wants to go further, with plans to restrict birth control, ban abortion nationwide, even monitor women’s pregnancies”, the narrator says.
The Harris-Walz campaign is launching a new ad campaign ahead of Tuesday’s debate on reproductive freedom.
The three ads feature Trump’s own words saying he is “proud” to have overturned Roe, as well as two women who have been directly affected by Trump’s abortion bans. pic.twitter.com/390JrfXbLi
The ad will appear on broadcast and cable networks in seven swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin – and in Nebraska’s competitive second congressional district, according to the Harris campaign.
Another ad discusses the impact of the Alabama supreme court’s ruling that frozen embryos are “children” on a woman’s efforts to conceive.
The Harris campaign said the new ad would run as part of their $370m digital and television buy.
A statement by Harris-Walz principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks reads:
This ad will remind Fox News viewers, perhaps even a certain defeated former president himself, about how Trump’s own national security team can’t stomach him anymore because of how he’d put the country at risk. To every American who understands the threat that Donald Trump poses, who cares about upholding the constitution, who believes in the rule of law, and who knows America is stronger when it leads, there’s a home for you in Vice-President Harris’s campaign.
“In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House.,” the Harris campaign’s new ad reads.
Now, those people have a warning for America: Trump is not fit to be president again.
The ad includes clips from the former Republican vice-president Mike Pence saying that he would not be endorsing Trump in 2024, and from the former defense secretary Mark Esper warning that another Trump presidency “places our service members at risk, places our nation’s security at risk”.
Pence, Esper and Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, who is also featured in the Harris campaign’s ad, have said they will not vote for Trump.
According to the Washington Post, just over of Trump’s former cabinet supports his comeback campaign.
Harris goads Trump with ad of former officials warning of a second Trump term ahead of debate
Good morning US politics readers. The Harris campaign is set to air a new TV ad featuring former officials in Donald’s Trump administration warning about the threat he poses to the country, in what looks like an attempt to goad the former president ahead of tomorrow’s debate.
The minute-long spot, entitled “The Best People”, will run on Fox News as well as in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Philadelphia on Tuesday to coincide with the presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris. It will continue to play throughout the week, according to the Harris campaign.
The ad features Trump’s former vice-president, Mike Pence, former defense secretary Mark Esper, former national security adviser John Bolton and retired Gen Mark Milley, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. The ad reads:
Take it from the people who knew him best: Donald Trump is a danger to our troops and our democracy. We can’t let him lead our country again.
The ad came after endorsements by some high-profile Republicans for Harris last week, including the former vice-president Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz Cheney, a former representative of Wyoming, as well as Jim McCain, the son of the late senator and 2008 presidential nominee John McCain.
Here’s what else we’re watching:
Kamala Harris is in Pittsburgh preparing for her debate tomorrow. She is expected to travel to Philadelphia in the late afternoon.
Congress is back. The House rules committee is set to take up Speaker Mike Johnson’s six-month stopgap funding bill, which would extend government funding through 28 March.
Joe Biden will be in New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon for 9/11 events this week. He will welcome the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, to the White House on Friday.
