A host of former Republicans are throwing their support behind Biden.
By World Israel News Staff
Just as the Republican National Convention is to kick off on Monday, over two-dozen former GOP members of Congress have announced their support for “Republicans for Biden,” an effort to woo Republican voters to the Democratic party, a Fox News exclusive report revealed on Monday.
The most prominent member of the group is former Republican Senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, says Fox News reporter Brooke Singman. He will make a statement on Monday afternoon, according to a Biden campaign official, Fox News reports.
Fox News notes that the timing is meant to “steal GOP thunder” during the party’s convention just as Republicans tried to disrupt the Democrats’ last week.
Flake has been a long-time critic of President Donald Trump. The two exchanged barbs during Trump’s first campaign in 2016. Trump called Flake “very weak and ineffective,” especially on immigration. Flake blasted Trump for the tone of his campaign and predicted, incorrectly, that if it didn’t change, “Republicans will lose a lot more than the election in November.”
In 2019, in a Washington Post op-ed, Flake urged Republicans to not support Trump for re-election. The piece was titled “Jeff Flake: Fellow Republicans, there’s still time to save your souls.”
However, Flake stopped short of endorsing the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, until now.
Fox News listed other former Republican congresspeople, including Sen. Gordon Humphrey of New Hampshire, (now an independent) and John Warner, former Republican senator from Virginia.
Former congresspeople include:
Steve Bartlett, (Texas)
Bill Clinger (Pennsylvania)
Tom Coleman (Missouri)
Charlie Dent (Pennsylvania)
Charles Djou (Hawaii)
Mickey Edwards (Oklahoma)
Wayne Gilchrest (Maryland)
Jim Greenwood (Pennsylvania)
Bob Inglis (South Carolina)
Jim Kolbe (Arizona)
Steve Kuykendall (California)
Ray LaHood (Illinois)
Jim Leach (Iowa)
Connie Morella (Maryland)
Mike Parker (Mississippi)
Jack Quinn (New York)
Claudine Schneider (Rhode Island)
Chris Shays (Connecticut)
Peter Smith (Vermont)
Alan Steelman (Texas)
Bill Whitehurst (Virginia)
Dick Zimmer (New Jersey)
Jim Walsh (New York)
“These former members of Congress cited Trump’s corruption, destruction of democracy, blatant disregard for moral decency, and urgent need to get the country back on course as a reason why they support Biden,” a Biden campaign official told Fox News.
“These former Members of Congress are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship,” the official said.