Hundreds of Bush officials launch ‘43 Alumni’ group to back Biden over Trump

The officials, who include Cabinet secretaries and other senior people in the Bush administration, have formed a political action committee – 43 Alumni for Biden – to support the former vice-president in his November 3 race, three organisers of the group said. Bush was the country’s 43rd president.

The Super PAC will launch on Wednesday with a website and Facebook page, they said. It plans to release “testimonial videos” praising Biden from high-profile Republicans and will hold get-out-the-vote efforts in the most competitive states.

The group is the latest of a number of Republican organisations opposing Trump’s re-election, yet another sign that he has alienated some in his own party, most recently with his response to the coronavirus pandemic and nationwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality against Black Americans.

“We know what is normal and what is abnormal, and what we are seeing is highly abnormal. The president is a danger,” said Jennifer Millikin, one of the 43 Alumni organisers, who worked on Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign and later in the General Services Administration.

The other two members who spoke were Karen Kirksey and Kristopher Purcell. Purcell worked as a communication official in the Bush White House. Kirksey was on the Bush 2000 campaign, and later in the Agriculture and Labor Departments.

Millikin said the group was not yet ready to name all its members or its donors. It has to provide a list of initial donors to the Federal Election Commission by October.

Bush’s office has been informed about the group, but the former president is not involved and has not indicated if he approves of its aims, she said.