Liz Cheney aside, Trump's GOP critics mostly coming home as they find Harris more odious

When faced with the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency, a number of high-profile Trump opponents within the GOP have swallowed their pride and backed the former president, seemingly deeming him the lesser evil.

While Trump has always contended with a “Never Trump” faction of the Republican Party, typically dominated by Bush-era foreign policy hawks, he lost a contingent of generally pro-MAGA figures in the wake of the 2020 election after the Jan. 6 riot and his efforts to contest the results.

Now, the latter contingent at least, seems to be lining up behind the former president. Despite their frustrations with him, their policy disagreements with Harris are evidently too substantial to defect outright.

This week alone has seen a handful of high-profile figures line up behind Trump, bolstering intra-party unity just in time for the election’s final stretch.

Brian Kemp

Gov. Brian Kemp, R-Ga., made his first public appearance with Trump in years on Friday as the pair addressed the press on their efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Helene.

The event in Evans, Ga., was largely non-political and focused on the relief efforts. “I want to thank President Trump for coming back to our state again for the second time to view storm damage and keep a national focus on our state as we recover,” Kemp said.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Trump insisted he enjoyed a “brilliant” relationship with Kemp, noting they had previously worked together on storm relief while he was in the White House. Trump insisted he was “not thinking about voters” but “thinking about lives” with his appearance.

The Georgia governor and Trump famously split over the 2020 election and the former president’s efforts to challenge the results. Georgia narrowly broke for President Joe Biden after a steady trickle of ballots put him over the top. The result was considered an upset and the Peach State stood at the center of Trump’s election challenges.

The pair maintained a public feud for years, though they managed to reconcile in late August and Kemp officially endorsed Trump on the final day of the Democratic National Convention.

"We need to send Donald Trump back to the White House," Kemp said.

Gordon Sondland

Gordon Sondland, a witness in the Trump impeachment made headlines this week after he publicly reversed his opposition to Trump in an MSNBC appearance, citing the poor leadership of the Biden-Harris administration. Sondland served as Trump’s ambassador to the European Union and testified during the first impeachment trial.

“Why was it important for you to say ‘no more Trump’ because of his Jan. 6 comments and do you stand by that?” an MSNBC host asked Sondland on Wednesday.

“No, I don’t stand by it and I’ll tell you why,” he responded. “I’ve now lived four years under the Biden-Harris policies and I have to say that those policies are not only becoming an existential threat to our country’s way of life but to our allies as well.”

When pressed on the prospect of supporting Trump, Sondland replied “It is a yes for me… That is how badly the Biden-Harris team has prosecuted their job.” He added that, despite his qualms about Jan. 6, he saw “so many attacks on Democracy that eclipse Jan. 6.”

Nikki Haley

Typically regarded as one of the GOP’s more hawkish figures on foreign affairs, Haley reiterated her support for Trump this week in a letter calling him a “peacemaker,” signing on to the statement alongside more than 300 national security figures, NBC News reported.

"The policies of the Biden-Harris Administration have invited conflict, diminished America’s standing around the globe, and imperiled our national security," they wrote. "Over the last four years, peace throughout the world has been upended by America’s emboldened adversaries."

The letter came amid mounting tensions in the Middle East after Iran launched a volley of ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Haley previously challenged Trump for the Republican Party presidential nomination and was his final serious challenger in that contest. She did not endorse Trump until months after dropping out and spoke at the Republican National Convention, where she urged his detractors to embrace their common policy views.

Bill Barr

Former Attorney General William Barr also signed on to the Wednesday letter. Barr quit the Trump administration in late 2020 amid frustrations with his boss’s election challenges. 

While he spent years criticizing the former president, he announced in April that he would nonetheless back Trump, saying "[t]he threat to our country is from the far-left and the drive that’s been occurring toward really a socialistic system and one that brooks no opposition, that cancels people.”

Trump, at the time, accepted Barr’s endorsement and quipped that he would stop referring to Barr as “lethargic” in response. 

Some Republicans breaking for Harris

Not all Trump critics have reconciled themselves to Trump's candidacy. Some, such as former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., have opted to break for Vice President Kamala Harris. Cheney campaigned with Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin on Thursday, insisting she was still a “Ronald Reagan conservative” and confirming her opposition to Trump.

The Wyoming politician famously led a group of House Republicans in voting to impeach Trump after Jan. 6. The effort was unsuccessful and saw the conference boot her from her leadership post. An irate Cheney served on the Jan. 6 Committee, a panel Republicans universally regarded as an anti-Trump partisan farce. She ultimately lost her primary to a Trump-backed challenger in 2022.

But Cheney is not alone in still opposing Trump in her plans to participate in a fireside chat on Oct. 9 with other ex-Trump supporters to make the case against the former president. Also planning to participate are former White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah Griffin, Jan. 6 Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson, and former White House aide Sarah Matthews.

An unnamed source involved told CNN the four women will “offer a warning about the threat Donald Trump poses to democracy and the rule of law,” making the case about “the need for independents, moderates, and Republicans to stop him from getting back in office.”