Republicans for Harris launches as an unlikely coalition to challenge Trump

Caption

Vice President Kamala Harris greets an enthusiastic crowd during a July rally in Atlanta

Credit: Sarah Kallis/GPB News

Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign launched a new initiative called Republicans for Harris. The effort seeks to win over Republican voters who are looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump.

The dynamics within the Republican Party were on display on Saturday at Trump's recent rally in Atlanta, during which he criticized Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. 

Kemp and Trump have had a strained relationship since the 2020 presidential election, when the governor refused to call a special legislative session to try and overturn the results of the election.

Trump said he was "not a fan" of the governor during the rally and lobbed attacks at his family on his Truth Social account on Saturday. 

Republican state officials have called Trump's comments "out of touch."

The Harris campaign hopes to capitalize on these internal Republican conflicts. The new coalition has already garnered support from prominent Republicans, including former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Olivia Troye, who served as a homeland security adviser under former Vice President Mike Pence.

Troye, a lifelong Republican and former President George W. Bush appointee, explained her decision to endorse Harris in an interview with GPB's Pamela Kirkland.

"I have been very upset about the direction that Donald Trump has taken the Republican Party and very upset about the extremism that we've seen across the MAGA movement," Troye said.

She emphasized the stakes of the upcoming election, highlighting concerns over personal freedoms, women's reproductive rights, and the rise of authoritarianism.

TRANSCRIPT

Pamela Kirkland: This is Morning Edition on GPB. I'm Pamela Kirkland. Over the weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris campaign launched Republicans for Harris in an effort to win over Republican voters who are looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump. The initiative includes notable Republican names like former Georgia Lt. Gov. Jeff Duncan and Olivia Troye, who served as homeland security adviser under former Vice President Mike Pence. Olivia joins me now to discuss. Welcome to Morning Edition.

Olivia Troye: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Pamela Kirkland: You're a lifelong Republican, a former Bush appointee. You also worked under the Trump administration. What is Republicans for Harris and why did you decide to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris?

Olivia Troye: You know, I have been very upset about the direction that Donald Trump has taken the Republican Party and very upset about the extremism that we've seen across the MAGA movement. And I felt like this November, there are so many things that are on the line, like personal freedoms, women's reproductive rights. And also, with the rise of authoritarianism around the world, I'm very concerned about the type of leadership that will be in the Oval Office should Donald Trump return, having lived a lot of the chaos and disruption that he did during the first administration firsthand. And so I felt that, quite honestly, I have a moral obligation for America to do everything I can to right the ship. And I felt very strongly about Kamala Harris and her ability to bring coalitions together. And I think the hope is to create an effort here that does the outreach and helps to make center-right people — moderate Republicans, independent voters — to come together and support and stand together on this.

Pamela Kirkland: Both campaigns actually were here in Georgia this past week. How do you see Republicans for Harris resonating with Georgia voters, and particularly with those who maybe feel disillusioned with the current political climate and everything that's going on?

Olivia Troye: Well, I think there are a lot of people out there that are trying to figure out where they fit in this political spectrum right now of the landscape of where we are in America. And I think the hope is that they will feel welcomed and that there will be this sort of bridge to them, to feel that they have a home with Kamala Harris and — and Republicans for Harris aims to do that and aims to have these conversations in a very honest and open manner. Like, I'm someone that used to go in and — and regardless of who was on the ticket, I would vote Republican straight down the ballot. But I think the landscape and everything has changed so significantly. And I think when it comes to Georgia and people who look at politics in Georgia, Republican voters in Georgia, I think, will find that a lot of people just want a different way forward for our country.

Pamela Kirkland: And I do want to ask you a little bit about the party dynamics here. We saw former President Trump here at a rally on Saturday in Atlanta. He was attacking Gov. Brian Kemp and his family during that rally. The governor went on social media to essentially say Trump should focus on the campaign, but stated that he still plans to vote for him as the Republican nominee in November. What does that tell you about the dynamics within the Republican Party right now where loyalties lie?

Olivia Troye: I was shocked to see Donald Trump attack Gov. Kemp. He's a very popular governor down there in Georgia. And it also — it didn't make it make any sense, like, strategically, politically, why he would do that. And I think it just goes to show that Donald Trump is truly just about himself. It has really nothing to do with the Republican brand. And I think what you're seeing is honest Republicans, even some MAGA Republicans, come to Gov. Kemp's defense in terms of what happened this weekend. And, like, the other part of it — because I come from national security — when he was talking about Gov. Kemp being a bad person to me, and the reason I see Gov. Kemp pushing back and saying, "Leave my family out of it,"  I worry about the threats that Gov. Kemp receives in the aftermath when Donald Trump does things like that. Because I know that he received threats after the 2020 election, when he did the right thing and upheld the Constitution and did not do Trump's bidding. And look, I think it goes to show where the Republican Party is internally and how conflicted they are in terms of the way forward. I think this is why I actually think that this paves a way for people like myself who were working on Republicans for Harris, because I think when you contrast these two candidates between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, I think, do voters want a path of the continued divisiveness that's going on in the Republican Party, or do you want to take a chance in Kamala Harris's ability to lead the country the next four years instead of Donald Trump, and maybe then regroup with the Republican Party, hopefully purge Trumpism out of it, and get back to true conservative values?

Pamela Kirkland: We've seen this line of attack emerge on the Republican side, criticizing Kamala Harris for some things prior in her career, labeling her, you know, a San Francisco liberal. What's your argument to Republican voters who are maybe hesitant about supporting a Democrat, even if they are dissatisfied with the party right now?

Olivia Troye: I think that the more that people see Kamala Harris on the campaign trail and get to know her, the more they're going to realize just how thoughtful she is being about her pro-choice policies. And also, I think Trump is going to obviously label her as this far-left liberal. That's the only thing you can say about her because you can't attack her credentials. She's clearly qualified for the role she's in now and will make an excellent president, given her background. And I think people will find that she's more moderate than what they're painting her. And look, I think when Trump resorts to these types of attacks, especially given his history on how he disparages women and given his history on race and how he uses racial tropes to describe people, how he mocks her laughter — some people on the right have been mocking her laughter. They do that because they've got nothing else. Where is the policy on Donald Trump? It's devoid of that.

Pamela Kirkland: Olivia Troye served as homeland security adviser under former Vice President Mike Pence. Thank you so much for joining me on Morning Edition.

Olivia Troye: Thank you for having me.