President Joe Biden's reelection campaign rolled out two Republican endorsers in Atlanta on Wednesday to warn against former President Donald Trump as a threat to democracy and a promoter of political violence ahead of the first presidential debate between the two men there on Thursday.
Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who endorsed Biden earlier on Wednesday, and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who endorsed Biden in May, headlined the press conference at the Georgia State Capitol. Duncan was one of the key officials in Georgia who pushed back against Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss there — efforts that are now at the center of a racketeering prosecution of the former president and his allies in the state.
“Almost every minute of every day from the White House, specifically from Donald Trump, lies conspiracy theories around the 2020 election. So much so that I had to have armed guards around my office and my home, around my family, just to fight off the fact I didn't admit that the election was rigged. Because it wasn’t,” Duncan said. “Going against the grain as a Republican and supporting Democrat Joe Biden for president is not easy. But I’m not running. I'm not looking at this election through the lens of being a Republican. I'm looking through the lens of being an American”
Kinzinger, an outspoken Trump critic who served on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, made a similar argument of country over party, citing his own experience during the attack by Trump supporters as they attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 election.
“We saw a mob launched by the former president on the Capitol of the United States. I didn't watch that on TV. I lived it,” Kinzinger said, predicting “a risk of violence” at statehouses after this year’s election by Trump supporters. “There is a risk of something like we saw on Jan. 6, but at the state levels, and I would say this to every — particularly swing — state: be ready and be prepared, because the forces of Donald Trump have already had a trial run.”
Biden thanked Kinzinger for his endorsement on social media earlier on Wednesday, saying the Illinois Republican was “putting your country before your party.”
With Kinzinger and Duncan was former U.S. Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol during the 2021 attack and launched an unsuccessful Democratic congressional bid in Maryland earlier this year.
Dunn made the case Trump “has encouraged and continues to encourage political violence.”
“They told us while they were beating us with thin blue line flags, with ‘don't tread on me’ flags, with American flags — They were beating police with them saying ‘the election was stolen. Donald Trump sent us here,’” Dunn said. “That's why I feel confident saying that Donald Trump is solely responsible for the events of Jan. 6, because as those rioters were beating us, they told us the reason they were there is because of Donald Trump.”
Kinzinger also cited Trump’s usage of a song sung by imprisoned Capitol rioters at rallies and his description of imprisoned rioters as “hostages” as evidence of Trump’s approval of political violence. As of earlier this month, more than 1,450 people have been charged with crimes connected to the attack on the Capitol, with 835 pleading guilty to federal charges and another 170 having been found guilty at trial, according to the Department of Justice.
Among those who pleaded or were found guilty are far-right militia and street gang leaders and members who are serving time in prison for seditious conspiracy. Around 140 law enforcement officers were assaulted that day, the DOJ says.
On Wednesday, hours after the press conference, the FBI announced they arrested a member of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, in Florida for allegedly assaulting law enforcement during the riot.
“Talking about Jan. 6 Is is such a sobering event on so many fronts,” Duncan said. “It gave us as Americans a peek into the soul of [the Make America Great Again moment] watching those events play out. It also served as another historical example of where hate-filled movements can take that very movement. It's also a reminder of how delicate democracy is every single day that we wake up.”
“If it were not for a few heroic and brave police officers at the Capitol, our nation's democracy would look different today,” he added.
Both Kinzinger and Duncan spoke of a future for the Republican Party beyond Trump, but encouraged their fellow Republicans who feel similarly to vote for Biden this year despite any policy disagreements. Both men were optimistic their party would change, but Kinzinger noted the hold its current leader has on Republican voters.
“I had my copilot from Iraq about a year and a half ago that sent me a text and he said ‘I was ashamed to have ever flown with you.’ Think about that. I fought with this guy in Iraq,” said Kinzinger, an Air National Guard lieutenant colonel. “I don't say that to get your sympathy. I say that to say what kind of brain rot is infecting people that they're destroying relationships, including those forged in combat.”
Ben LaBolt, the White House communications director, wrote on social media that Kinzinger “won’t be the last prominent conservative to put democracy first this election.” For now, Kinzinger and Duncan are the exceptions in their party.
Republicans have largely consolidated around Trump after he defeated his primary foes, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley who said last month she would vote for Trump after a bitter primary. Kinzinger, a retired member of Congress who declined to run for reelection in 2022 after becoming ostracized in his own party for his criticisms of Trump, is the highest profile Republican endorser of Biden so far.
“You can’t be conservative and support Biden,” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on social media in response to Kinzinger’s endorsement.