Former GOP Officials Endorse Clinton for President
Washington, DC — A newly formed group of Republicans who served as officials in prior GOP administrations and campaigns has issued a public statement supporting Hillary Clinton for president over Donald Trump.
They say they will vote for her in November while, at the same time, backing GOP candidates for Senate and other races.
They say that a major reason for their decision is to save their own party. “Voting for her is best for our country,” the Republicans’ statement says, in reference to Clinton. “It is also a necessary step in restoring the Republican party to its core principles.”
The newly launched group R4C16 (or Republicans for Clinton 2016), expects to announce more signers in the near future. R4C16 is a grassroots effort with no affiliation to the Clinton campaign or any other Democrat-led initiative. To the contrary, R4C16 seeks to provide voice to the millions of Republicans who cannot support Trump but who don’t want to leave their party.
In recent days, other Republicans, including 50 national security leaders and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), have announced they will not support Mr. Trump. R4C16 takes the next step: declaring that the signers will vote for Secretary Clinton.
“It’s important to remember that most Republicans did not support Donald Trump in the primary process and millions, according to polls, cannot support him now,” said R4C16 co-founder John Stubbs. “Voting for Clinton is a first step to rebuilding credibility with past and future Republicans currently lost in the wilderness Mr. Trump has created.”
James K. Glassman, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the George W. Bush Administration, added, “In voting for Secretary Clinton in this election, we will also be voting for Republicans in Senate and House races. Retaining the Congress is critical for those of us who, unlike the man the GOP nominated, continue to believe in the principles of the party of Lincoln and Reagan — liberty and respect for the individual.”
“Republicans recognize it’s a binary option, Trump or Clinton,” said R4C16 co-founder Ricardo Reyes. “But in supporting Sec. Clinton we aren’t interested in signing up for an R-to-D conversion program run by her campaign. We are Republicans who believe our party’s nominee is a disaster.”
Statement of endorsement:
We are proud members of the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, a party rooted in liberty and respect for the individual. We support policies of limited government, free-market economics, and a strong, global vision of foreign policy and national security.
Donald Trump betrays our values and beliefs. His campaign has been marked by isolationism, nationalism, vulgarity, and ignorance of serious policy matters. Supporting Mr. Trump forsakes Republican history, harms the Republican brand, and breaks the trust of millions of current and future Republican voters.
In the 2016 election, we will vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for President of the United States. Secretary Clinton is a more qualified candidate and would make a better president. Voting for her is best for our country. It is also a necessary step to restore the Republican party to its core principles. We will not allow Trumpism to become the new Republican party.
Together, we will make our party great again.
Among the signatories are (listed alphabetically by last name, with previous Republican affiliation):
Niki Christoff, Member of the policy staff of McCain for President 2008
James Clad, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia
Patrick Cronin, Assistant Administrator for Policy and Program Coordination, USAID
James Filippatos, Assistant Administrator for International Affairs, FAA
Jana Chapman Gates, Speechwriter, U.S. Department of the Treasury
Jean Geran, Member of the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning
Jim Glassman, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
Justin Kintz, Special Assistant External Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior
Frank Lavin, White House Political Director
Phil Levy, Member of the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning
Peter Mansoor, Colonel, US Army (Ret.)
Todd Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, State Dept
Ricardo Reyes, Deputy Assistant USTR for Public Affairs
Andrew Sagor, Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
John Stubbs, Senior Advisor USTR
Colin Tooze, Member of the Office of Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA)
Dan Twining, Member of the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning
John Veroneau, Deputy USTR
Davis White, Member of the White House Office of Public Liaison
About R4C16
R4C16 (http://r4c16.org) is a group of concerned Republicans who are committed to defeating Donald Trump in November and promoting a rational social, economic and foreign policy agenda based on liberty, prosperity and security. We are a resource for Republicans, by Republicans, to build an inclusive GOP for the future.
Website: http://www.r4c16.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/r4c16
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/republicans4clinton
Medium: https://medium.com/@r4c16
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Contact: press@r4c16.org
