A former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff appointed during President Donald Trump's administration announced on Monday he was endorsing Joe Biden. He accused Trump of often making decisions on a whim, turning DHS into a tool for his political benefit and "actively doing damage to our security."
Miles Taylor, a self-described Republican, penned an op-ed in The Washington Post titled, "At Homeland Security, I saw firsthand how dangerous Trump is for America." He also appears in an ad for "Republican Voters Against Trump."
Taylor was DHS chief of staff under Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen starting in 2017, leaving the post in 2019.
"Like many Americans, I had hoped that Donald Trump, once in office, would soberly accept the burdens of the presidency — foremost among them the duty to keep America safe. But he did not rise to the challenge," Taylor wrote in The Washington Post. "Instead, the president has governed by whim, political calculation and self-interest."
Taylor said he could only speak to how the president handled issues related to national security.
Taylor claimed that in February 2019 as Congress was awaiting word from Trump on a deal to avoid a second government shutdown (the U.S. had just endured a record-long 35-day shutdown), the president insisted on a phone call with DHS to discuss the color of the wall at the southern border.
In the video ad, Taylor accused Trump of ordering the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cut off money to wildfire-stricken California, accusing the president of doing it for political motivation.
"He told us to stop giving money to people whose houses had burned down from a wildfire because he was so rageful that people in the state of California didn't support him and that, politically, it wasn't a base for him," Taylor said.
He also claimed Trump wanted to restart a "zero tolerance" immigration policy at the border and to be "more deliberate" about separating migrant families to demonstrate to parents why they should not try to cross into the U.S.
Taylor also claimed that if Trump was told a certain course of action was illegal, he would say he had "magical authorities."
And Taylor wrote that Trump seemed to have little interest in such national security subjects as cybersecurity, domestic terrorism and foreign influence into U.S. affairs.
Although he says he is not a Democrat and doesn't agree with Joe Biden's key issues, Taylor says he is confident Biden will protect the country.
Jared Kushner, a White House adviser and the president's son-in-law responded, telling CNN that Taylor was "a nice kid" who wasn't up for the job.
Although Trump enjoys nearly airtight support among Republicans (90% approval in Gallup's most recent poll), there are vocal Republicans who have come out against his re-election. The most prominent of these is the group "The Lincoln Project."
John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination 2016, is speaking at the Democratic National Convention Monday. Other Republicans to speak at the DNC Monday include former Rep. Susan Molinari of New York, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and former gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman.