Former Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) official Miles Taylor, who labored below the primary Trump administration, referred to as on “conservatives of conscience” to hitch President-elect Trump when he returns to the White Home for a second time period.
Taylor urged his fellow conservatives “to not run from him, as some would possibly say they need to. As a substitute, I urge them to hitch him, as I as soon as did,” in a Wednesday op-ed printed by The New York Instances.
“Republicans with integrity cannot turn away from the difficult years ahead,” Taylor wrote. “They should step forward and serve in the executive branch out of dedication to the principles that hold this country together, however tenuously.”
A fierce Trump critic, the previous DHS chief of workers penned an nameless op-ed in 2018 that excoriated the previous president, calling him unstable and a hazard to “the health of our Republic.” That piece — which printed below “Anonymous” — additionally sought to painting himself as a part of a “resistance” within the authorities searching for to rein in Trump’s worst impulses.
Taylor left the administration in 2019 and got here ahead because the “Anonymous” writer in October 2020. He had already been vocal in his opposition to Trump when he publicly admitted to writing the controversial opinion piece.
Taylor, in his newest op-ed, warned that Trump will quickly “arrive at the White House not as an outsider, as he did for his first term, but as a man who sees his stunning re-election as vindication — a mandate to wield the presidency more assertively than before. He will return with fewer restraints and greater resolve.”
He added that the White Home wants “principled conservatives” to serve “as a conscience” for America.
“Mr. Trump needs people around him who understand the functions of the executive branch and have a moral compass, especially in the realm of national security,” the previous official wrote. “While many Reagan- and Bush-era conservatives have been driven from the party, there is an array of seasoned G.O.P. figures capable of stepping into these posts and leading agencies with a steady hand.”
Taylor mentioned Republicans ought to be a part of Trump’s subsequent administration to “keep government limited and prevent abuses of power.”
“They might end up being the only reason Mr. Trump holds back from doing something unlawful — or at least, if they fail, they will be the only people to tell their fellow Americans the truth,” he added.
Taylor made clear he’s not suggesting it will be the job of individuals within the second Trump administration to defy the president’s orders “as a matter of course,” but said, “it is their job to follow the law and, if necessary, keep him from breaking it.”
“Believe me, he will try, whether deliberately or through sheer carelessness,” he mentioned.
The Trump marketing campaign attacked Taylor in an announcement responding to the op-ed.
“Miles Taylor is a loser and a lying sack of s— who disgraced his country and himself,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung wrote in an announcement.
The Hill/Resolution Desk HQ referred to as the race for former President Trump over Vice President Harris early Wednesday. The vice chairman has since conceded the race and congratulated her GOP opponent on the victory, insisting on a peaceable switch of energy.
