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The top Republicans who aren't voting for Trump in 2020

18 August 2020
 Dan Ackermann

Miles Taylor, the former DHS chief of staff under President Trump, endorsed Joe Biden for president Monday, saying Trump "wanted to exploit the Department of Homeland Security for his own political purposes and to fuel his own agenda."

Why it matters: Taylor joins other prominent Republicans who have publicly said they will either not vote for Trump's re-election this November or will back Biden.

Not voting for Trump:

  • Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah): The party's 2012 presidential nominee said in February that he will not support Trump shortly after he voted to convict the president on one count in his impeachment trial.
  • John Bolton: Trump's former national security adviser said he will not vote for Biden or Trump and hopes that history remembers Trump "as a one-term president."
  • Jeff Flake: The Arizona Senator said he will not vote for Trump, but added that he's never voted for a Democrat for president, per The Washington Post.
  • William H. McRaven: McRaven, who led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has publicly criticized the president. He told The New York Times, "This fall, it's time for a new leadership in this country — Republican, Democrat or independent."

Voting for Biden:

  • Colin Powell: The former secretary of state under George W. Bush and retired four-star general said that he will support Biden because he believes that Trump has "drifted away" from the Constitution.
  • Carly Fiorina: The 2016 presidential candidate said she will support Biden because she believes he is "a person of humility and empathy and character," per The Atlantic.
  • John Kasich: The former Ohio governor and 2016 presidential candidate is not only endorsing Biden, but also speaking at the DNC to support the former vice president.
  • Miles Taylor: The former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff officially endorsed Biden saying, "Even though I'm not a Democrat, even though I disagree on key issues, I'm confident that Joe Biden will protect the country."

On the fence:

  • Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska): Murkowski, one of Trump's consistent foils in the Senate, said that she was "struggling" to support the president's re-election after James Mattis, the former defense secretary, issued a public rebuke.

Undecided publicly but skeptical, via a New York Times report:

  • George W. Bush: The former president has reportedly decided not to support Trump's re-election, though he's made no public statements to that end.
  • Jeb Bush: The former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate is so far reportedly undecided.
  • Cindy McCain: The widow of the late Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) will reportedly vote for Biden, but remains unsure how public to be about it.

Worth noting: While former top military leaders like Mattis and John Kelly are technically non-partisan, they both served in Trump's administration and have publicly expressed skepticism about the president's standing ahead of the 2020 election.

  • Mattis said Trump made a "mockery of our Constitution" and called him "the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people" after the president's response to mass protests in the wake of George Floyd's killing.
  • Kelly, Trump's former chief of staff and homeland security secretary, said he agreed with Mattis' comments.

Go deeper:These Senate seats are up for election in 2020

Editor's note: This article has been updated with the latest Republicans to back Biden.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.