Donald Trump and John Kelly (Getty)
Thirteen former aides to Donald Trump have signed a letter backing Gen. John Kelly's stark warnings that the former president is a fascist and admirer of the late Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and hopes to govern as a dictator if re-elected this year.
The letter was shared exclusively with Politico, which broke the story under the headline "Ex-Trump aides emerge to back Kelly’s harsh warnings; The letter from former White House officials comes as Harris is leaning into her closing argument that Trump is a threat to democracy. Meredith McGraw writes:
More than a dozen former Trump administration officials on Friday came out in support of former chief of staff John Kelly, who went on the record this week to say the former president fits the definition of a fascist, would govern like a dictator and has no concept of the Constitution.
In a new letter, shared exclusively with POLITICO, the former Trump administration officials — some of the officials have been outspoken Trump critics for years — stated, “this is who Donald Trump is.”
“The revelations General Kelly brought forward are disturbing and shocking. But because we know Trump and have worked for and alongside him, we were sadly not surprised by what General Kelly had to say,” the letter states.
Like Kelly, the former aides now see Trump as a danger to the United States, its government, its citizens' way of life, and perhaps world stability. They add that Kelly's warning should not be taken lightly. McGraw writes:
“We applaud General Kelly for highlighting in stark details the danger of a second Trump term. Like General Kelly, we did not take the decision to come forward lightly. We are all lifelong Republicans who served our country. However, there are moments in history where it becomes necessary to put country over party. This is one of those moments” the letter states. “Everyone should heed General Kelly’s warning.”
The letter was signed by Trump administration officials, including Kevin Carroll, former senior counselor to Kelly; former deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews; former assistant secretary of homeland security Elizabeth Neumann; former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci; former chief of staff at the Dept. of Homeland Security Miles Taylor; former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham; former press secretary to the vice president Alyssa Farah Griffin; and former national security adviser to vice president Pence, Olivia Troye.
Taylor was the author of Anonymous, a book warning about Trump, and Troye and former press secretary Stephanie Grisham spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
The letter comes as Vice President Kamala Harris is leaning into her closing argument that Trump is a threat to democracy and poses a distinct threat if he’s re-elected. It’s a message she and her campaign staff believe resonates with independents and Trump-weary Republicans who are concerned about the former president returning to the Oval Office.
On Wednesday night, Harris’ campaign conducted a focus group with undecided voters in a battleground state, where the participants found Kelly to be credible and trustworthy and his criticism of Trump, according to a campaign official, granted anonymity to discuss the findings, made some of them think twice about the former president.
According to a campaign official, the Harris campaign learned that persuadable and undecided voters in recent battleground state polling, their target group, said that the former president’s pursuit of “unchecked power with no one to stop him” is one of their top concerns. They also found that one of the concerning messages for them on this point is that “those who worked closest with Trump while he was President have left and said he should not be President again because of the risk he poses to national security.”