Former Bush attorney general endorses Kamala Harris

an endorsement for Vice President Kamala Harris from the Republican attorney general under President George W Bush. Alberto Gonzales writes, I can't sit quietly as Donald Trump, perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation, eyes a return to the white House and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales joins me now. He's also the dean of the Belmont University College of Law. Judge Gonzalez, thank you so much for being with us. Why? Well, John, I've watched this campaign closely as many other Republicans. And by the way, there are a host of Republicans that Republican lawyers in particular, who are concerned about the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president again because of his lack of, as we see it, lack of support, lack of willingness to abide by the rule of law. And for lawyers, that is extremely important. and I think Kamala Harris has demonstrated fidelity to the rule of law. obviously there are a lot of unknown questions about her. Those questions are being answered at for me. I thought a performance during the, convention was was good. I thought her debate, performance was, was outstanding, quite frankly. And the final thing that I would just say is, even after the election, whoever wins, we're still going to have a divided country, right? There'll be 70, 80 million people that may disagree with the views of the of the new president. And I think about who is most willing to work to unite our country. and in making that calculus. And for me, it's fairly easy. I view Kamala Harris is somewhat based on a rhetoric and her history as someone most likely to be dedicated to try to unite America. I don't see that that discipline, that willingness, and Donald Trump and for those reasons and many others, this is why I think it's important to come out publicly and say that I, that I think that, Kamala Harris is a better choice in this particular election. So it is interesting because there are other Republicans who will say, you know what, I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump, but I'm also not going to vote for Kamala Harris, or I'm not going to vote for Donald Trump. I'm not going to tell you who I'm voting for, right? Someone else in. You're doing something different here. Why do you think that's significant? Well, I don't you'll have to tell me whether or not it's significant. Others. We'll have to. We'll have to determine whether it's significant. I do believe based upon all the reporting, this is going to be an extremely close race. And so every vote for Kamala Harris makes it more likely that Donald Trump will not be elected. And so I think I think it really if people have concerns about a Trump presidency, it seems to me that the best course of action is to try to prevent it from happening, which of course means that you'll need to go out and vote, get your friends, your family to be supportive of Kamala Harris's campaign. listen, you know, obviously one, one, bad debate, does not mean you cannot be a great president. And one good debate doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a great president. but nonetheless, looking at the history of both individuals, my calculation is, is that she is the right choice at this particular time. And I'm I'm happy to, to be supportive of her. You know what people are going to say? I know the Politico piece. And you wrote that in Politico came out just like an hour and a half ago. So I don't know how much time for reaction there's been. But I guarantee you, if it hasn't happened yet, it will happen where people are going to say, Alberto Gonzales, you know, Rhino Republican to name only. well, I can't I can't help and I've stopped a long time ago, John, and worrying about what people may think. I'd like to have them think about though, what is best for this country, for the lawyers, I would say who is best suited to preserve the rule of law based upon the rhetoric and based upon their history? The rule of law is what allows us as Americans to enjoy our freedoms. And so if we lose the rule of law, then we lose our freedoms. And so for me, that's vitally important. And, you know, whether or not people think that I'm a Republican or whatever, you know, I do have some experience in terms of decision making in the Oval Office. And and I know what's important, at least from my perspective, in terms of the integrity, the discipline, the courage of the president of states. And, you know, I just happen to believe that Kamala Harris is the right person for the job at this time. I mean, and I have covered you since the late 90s, when you were an official into a Republican official in Texas, into the white House counsel and attorney general, again, someone who has been a Republican for a long, long time. What advice would you give the Harris campaign in appealing to Republicans around the country? Well, it's not my you know, I don't, think that I'm the right person to give advice with respect to campaigns. I think just simply outreach continue with the message of unity and continue a positive message. I think that's an extremely powerful. Going back to another Democratic president, you know, one of the things I really admired about Barack Obama, even though I didn't agree with all of his policies, the fact that he talked, he talked in such a hopeful way about the future of our country. I think Americans respond automatically to a hopeful, positive message. and this, this talk about the United States being in decline, becoming a third world country, that we're a disgrace. We're an embarrassment. To me, that's the embarrassment, that kind of rhetoric. We are the greatest country in the face of the earth. We are lucky to be in America. We're lucky to be Americans. And and I think that our leader should have that same kind of attitude to talk, talking that same kind of language. And so I think, I think that one of the best things that the, Harris campaign can do is to continue to talk about unity, continue to talk about a positive message, and that we are not going to go back to a negative message. I think that is probably a very effective message. Jose Alberto Gonzales, I appreciate talking to you. This is not a conversation I thought I'd be having 20 years ago. Thanks so much for your time this morning,