In a dramatic departure from his Republican roots, retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig has publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump, labeling Trump’s candidacy an “existential threat” to American democracy. This marks Luttig’s first-ever vote for a Democrat in a presidential election.
Luttig, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, has been a significant figure in conservative legal circles. His endorsement of Harris is framed as a defense of the Constitution and the rule of law.
“In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,” Luttig wrote in a statement. “As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris,” Luttig stated.
Luttig gained national attention in January 2021 for his pivotal role in advising then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Since then, Luttig has emerged as a staunch critic of Trump, describing his leadership and the current GOP as a “war on America’s Democracy.”
In his endorsement of Harris, Luttig acknowledges the policy differences he has with the Vice President but emphasizes that this election is about more than political platforms. “The stakes are as high now as they were in the late 18th century,” Luttig writes, drawing a parallel to the founding fathers’ concerns about authoritarian threats.
“In voting for Vice President Harris, I assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own,” Luttig writes, “but I am indifferent in this election as to her policy views on any issues other than America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as I believe all Americans should be.”
Luttig’s shift aligns him with other prominent Republicans who have distanced themselves from Trump, including former Congress members Joe Walsh, Barbara Comstock, and Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger is scheduled to speak at the Democratic National Convention, while former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan also recently endorsed Harris.
Luttig’s decision reflects a broader trend among some former Republicans who view Trump’s actions as a threat to democratic principles.
He described his endorsement as a matter of moral duty, “In my faith, we believe that we will one day answer for our wrongs. I have always tried to live my life in anticipation of that day. Imperfectly, to be sure. But I have tried,” an emotional Luttig said. “My endorsement of the Vice President was the right thing to do. It would have been wrong for me to stay silent, and I believe I would have one day had to answer for that silence.
“It’s really that simple.”
“Because of the former president’s continued, knowingly false claims that he won the 2020 election, millions of Americans no longer have faith and confidence in our national elections, and many never will again,” Luttig writes. “Many Americans – especially young Americans, tragically – have even begun to question whether constitutional democracy is the best form of self-government for America.”
Though this will be Luttig’s first time pulling the lever for a Democrat in any election, he has, in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, come out in support of some decisions by the Biden administration. He wholeheartedly endorsed the 2022 nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to the high court, even calling out Republicans who said they would not vote to confirm her.
“The time for America’s choosing has come,” Luttig writes. “It is time for all Americans to stand and affirm whether they believe in American Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, and want for America the same – or whether they do not.”
“The President knew at the time that there were any number of highly qualified black women on the lower federal courts from among whom he could choose – including Judge Jackson – and Republicans should have known that the President would nominate one of those supremely qualified black women to succeed Justice Breyer,” he wrote at the tim,” he said.
Recall that Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, also, endorsed Harris at the end of July in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op-ed.
Her campaign, he wrote, was “the best vehicle toward preventing another stained Trump presidency.”
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