Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar appointed by President George H.W. Bush, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election. Luttig, who has served in two Republican administrations, describes former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to American democracy. This marks the first time Luttig has voted for a Democrat.<\/p>\n
In a statement obtained exclusively by CNN, Luttig wrote, \u201cIn 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\u2019s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law. As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party\u2019s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luttig gained recognition for his role in persuading then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject Trump\u2019s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. At the request of Pence’s attorney, Luttig publicly outlined the legal rationale for Pence to certify Joe Biden\u2019s victory. Since then, Luttig has emerged as a leading constitutional critic of Trump.<\/p>\n
In endorsing Harris, Luttig acknowledged their political differences, stating, \u201cI assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own, but I am indifferent in this election as to her policy views on any issues other than America\u2019s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as I believe all Americans should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luttig\u2019s scathing rebuke of Trump underscores the divide between Republicans from the Reagan and Bush eras and the modern GOP dominated by Trump. Luttig argues that both Trump and the current Republican Party have launched \u201cthe war on America\u2019s Democracy,\u201d the effects of which, he says, will be felt for generations.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the former president\u2019s 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,\u201d Luttig stated. He added, \u201cMany Americans \u2013 especially young Americans, tragically \u2013 have even begun to question whether constitutional democracy is the best form of self-government for America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luttig compares the current stakes to those of the late 18th century when the country\u2019s founders, including Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, united to voice concerns over the rise of authoritarian demagogues. \u201cThe time for America\u2019s choosing has come,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt 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 \u2013 or whether they do not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although this is the first time Luttig will vote for a Democrat, he has supported some decisions by the Biden administration following the January 6 insurrection. For example, Luttig endorsed the 2022 nomination of now-Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, criticizing Republicans who opposed her confirmation.<\/p>\n
Luttig joins other high-profile Republicans in endorsing Harris, including former Congress members Joe Walsh, Barbara Comstock, and Adam Kinzinger. Kinzinger, now a CNN contributor, is expected to have a speaking role at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, while former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan also recently endorsed Harris, calling her campaign \u201cthe best vehicle toward preventing another stained Trump presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to CNN, Luttig explained his decision to endorse Harris as a matter of moral duty. \u201cIn 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,\u201d Luttig said. \u201cMy 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\u2019s really that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar appointed by President George H.W. Bush, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidential election. Luttig, who has served in two Republican administrations, describes former President Donald Trump as an existential threat to American democracy. This marks the first time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":44482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44481"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44483,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44481\/revisions\/44483"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}