Ten former top US military officials back Harris and call Trump a “danger”

A group of 10 retired senior U.S. military officers endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in a letter released Monday, saying she is the only fit candidate to serve as commander in chief.

They also described his rival, former Republican President Donald Trump, as a “danger to our national security and our democracy.”

The letter, signed by retired Gen. Larry Ellis and retired Rear Adm. Michael Smith, among others, cited Trump’s comments disparaging members of the military and his own “chaotic approach” to Afghanistan before the U.S. withdrawal, including negotiating a deal with the Taliban that allowed 5,000 of the group’s fighters to return to the battlefield.

In contrast, they said Harris “has demonstrated her ability to take on the toughest national security challenges in the Situation Room and on the international stage,” from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to tensions with China in the Indo-Pacific.

“Harris is the best – and only – presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our Commander in Chief,” the Harris campaign wrote in a letter posted on social media site X.

The Democratic vice president and Trump, who is running for a third term after serving in office from 2017 to early 2021, are locked in a tight race ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

The letter coincided with a new Harris campaign ad released ahead of Tuesday’s debate featuring former Trump officials warning that a second Trump presidency would pose serious risks.

“In 2016, Donald Trump said he would choose only the best people to work in his White House. Now, those people have a warning for America. Trump is unfit to be president again, his vice president fears,” the ad says.

It features videos of Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, his former defense secretary, Mike Esper, former national security adviser John Bolton and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley.

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