13 ex-Trump officials sign letter urging Americans to 'heed General Kelly’s warning'

25 October 2024

Former White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly was relentlessly attacked by Donald Trump supporters following a bombshell New York Times interview in which Kelly revealed that Trump, as president, openly praised Adolf Hitler and criticized U.S. military leaders for not being more like Hitler's generals in Nazi Germany.

Kelly told the Times that Trump, ideologically, fit the definition of "fascism." Meanwhile, Gen. Mark Milley, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described Trump as "fascist to the core" during an interview for veteran reporter Bob Woodward's new book "War."

GOP strategist Sarah Longwell, a Never Trump conservative who is supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, slammed MAGA attacks on Kelly as "pathetic, if not predictable" in a scathing article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on October 23. And she isn't the only one who is defending Kelly.

According to Politico's Meridith McGraw and NBC News' Megan Lebowitz, 13 former Trump Administration officials have signed an open letter standing up for the former White House chief of staff.

Those who signed the letter, McGraw reports, include former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham; Olivia Troye, a former national security aide to former Vice President Mike Pence; former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci; and former Pence press secretary Alyssa Farah Griffin.

Miles Taylor and Elizabeth Neumann, both alumni of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), signed the letter as well —as did Kevin Carroll, an ex-senior counselor for Kelly.

Troye and Grisham are among the conservative Republicans who endorsed Harris when they spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

McGraw notes, "The letter comes as Harris is leaning into her closing argument that Trump is a threat to democracy and poses a distinct threat if he's reelected. It's a message she and her campaign believes resonates with independents and Trump-weary Republicans who are concerned about the former president returning to the Oval Office."

During a town hall event for CNN on Wednesday night, October 23, Harris described Kelly's revelations as "a window into who Donald Trump really is, from the people who know him best, from the people who worked with him side by side in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room." And the vice president warned that in a second Trump term as president, "people like John Kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions."

The letter reads, "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…. Everyone should heed General Kelly's warning."

From Your Site Articles