First to ABC: Retired 4-star general, 200 former GOP staffers endorse Harris

(WASHINGTON) — General Larry Ellis, a retired four-star general who served in that rank under George W. Bush’s administration, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter exclusively obtained by ABC News.

This is the first time Ellis, who served as the commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, has endorsed a presidential candidate, writing that “this is not a decision I take lightly, but one I believe necessary.”

“Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is wholly and dangerously unfit for Commander-in-Chief. He praises and emboldens our enemies that seek to weaken our country. He has denigrated our brave men and women in uniform,” Ellis writes.

Ellis adds that if any service member were to ever “act just a bit like” Trump, “then he or she would be immediately removed from the leadership position, admonished, and separated from military service.”

Former Bush, Romney and McCain staffers endorse Harris

More than 200 Republican staffers who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney, or the late Sen. John McCain also endorsed Harris in a letter Monday obtained by ABC News. The letter was first obtained by USA today.

The letter calls on moderate Republicans and conservative independents in key swing states who voted for President Biden in 2020 to vote for Harris in November.

“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,” the letter says.

The letters of endorsement come on the same day that Trump is reaching out to U.S. service members. On the third anniversary of the Afghanistan withdrawal and bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members, Trump slammed the Biden administration’s handling and sought to tie Harris to the chaotic withdrawal.

“The humiliation in Afghanistan set off the collapse of American credibility and respect all around the world,” Trump said to the National Guard Association of the United States conference in Detroit.

In response, Harris campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement to ABC News: “The Biden-Harris Administration inherited a mess from Donald Trump. Trump wants America to forget that he had four years to get out of Afghanistan, but failed to do it. All he did was continue our longest war. Trump cannot be trusted to keep us safe, but Vice President Harris is a proven leader on the world stage.”