Former Trump White House staffers support John Kelly in his warning against Trump

Two days after Trump's former chief of staff in the White House John Kelly As he said that his ex-boss fit the definition of a fascist and occasionally remarked that Adolf Hitler “did some good things,” 13 other members of the Trump administration penned an open letter backing up Kelly's claims.

“Donald Trump’s contempt for the American military and his admiration for dictators like Hitler are rooted in his desire for absolute, unchecked power,” wrote the group, which includes former national security, communications and other White House staffers. “This is a man throwing his own vice president — Mike Pence — at a violent mob in a desperate attempt to hold on to power.”

Politico first reported the letter on Friday.

Kelly, a retired US Marine Corps general, told the New York Times and the Atlantic in recent interviews that Trump “could never understand why people would serve the country in uniform” and “admires people who are dictators.”

“Everyone should heed General Kelly’s warning,” wrote the former Trump aides, who described themselves as “lifelong Republicans who have served our country.”

Trump and his campaign have raged against Kelly. In a statement on Wednesday, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said: “Kelly has completely disgraced himself with these debunked stories that he has fabricated because he did not serve his president well during his tenure as chief of staff and is currently suffering from a debilitating case against Trump Deangement Syndrome suffers.”

“President Trump has always honored the service and sacrifices of all of our military, while Kamala Harris has shown complete disrespect to the families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, including Abbey Gate 13,” Cheung said, referring to August 2021 A suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed 13 U.S. military personnel.

Trump finds himself in an apparent situation Photo finish race against Vice President Kamala Harris, less than two weeks until election day. Harris portrayed Trump as Threat to democracyciting comments he made on “day one” about being a dictator and numerous promises to prosecute or punish those he considers enemies.

The Harris campaign conducted a focus group of undecided voters in battleground states on Thursday evening. Kelly's comments about Trump, in which he claimed he met the definition of a fascist, were viewed by them as trustworthy and impartial, and some said they were now thinking about supporting Trump.

In the final days of the campaign, Harris has begun to focus on the message that motivated Joe Biden to run in 2020: that a Trump presidency is a threat to our democracy. An internal Harris campaign poll in recent weeks found that Trump's pursuit of unchecked power for persuaded or undecided voters was one of their top concerns, and the message that worried them most was that those who were closely aligned with him during his presidency had worked together and the left said he should not be president again because of the threat he posed to national security.

Harris himself addressed Kelly's claims during an appearance on CNN on Wednesday, saying, “Why is he telling the American people now?”

“This time we have to take very seriously the people who knew him best and were career people who are not going to hold him back,” Harris said.