WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Vice President campaign on Sunday was launching 鈥淩epublicans for Harris鈥� as she looks to win over Republican voters put off by candidacy.
The program will be a 鈥渃ampaign within a campaign,鈥� according to Harris' team, using well-known Republicans to activate their networks, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The program will kick off with events this week in Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Republicans backing Harris will also appear at rallies with the vice president and her soon-to-be-named running mate this coming week, the campaign said.
The Harris campaign shared the details of the program first with The Associated Press before the official announcement.
Her team is trying to create 鈥渁 permission structure鈥� for GOP voters who would otherwise have a difficult time voting for Harris. The effort will rely heavily on Republican-to-Republican voter contact, with the belief that the best way to get a Republican to vote for Harris is to hear directly from another Republican making the same choice.
Trump's "extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party of Donald Trump represents their values" and will vote against him again in November, said Harris' national director of Republican outreach, Austin Weatherford. He said the campaign would be "showing up and taking the time every single day to earn the vote of Republicans who believe in putting country over party and know that every American deserves a president who will protect their freedoms and a commander in chief who will put the best interests of the American people above their own.鈥�
Weatherford is a onetime chief of staff to former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who had the Biden-Harris ticket before President Joe Biden鈥檚 disastrous debate performance against Trump. Kinzinger is backing Harris once more as part of the launch.
鈥淎s a proud conservative, I never thought I鈥檇 be endorsing a Democrat for President," he said in a statement. 鈥淏ut, I know Vice President Harris will defend our democracy and ensure Donald Trump never returns to the White House.鈥�
Kinzinger developed a national profile as one of two Republicans on the House committee that investigated . The committee highlighted a number of Trump鈥檚 transgressions before and during the deadly attack as Congress tried to certify the results of the 2020 election that Biden won over Trump.
Trump has done little to try to win over moderate Republican voters and , who rebuffed Trump's attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the battleground state.
Last month, when Biden was still at the top of the ticket, the campaign went out with an highlighting former Trump staffers' criticism of their onetime boss. A separate ad highlighted Trump鈥檚 often-personal attacks against Haley, including his primary nickname of her as 鈥渂irdbrain鈥� and suggestion that 鈥渟he鈥檚 not presidential timber.鈥�
Hundreds of thousands of registered Republicans voted in primaries for Haley even after she ended her bid for the 2024 Republican nomination and as Trump trounced her in almost every contest.
Haley in May announced she would and appeared at last month's Republican National Convention.
The Harris campaign's effort includes former Govs. Bill Weld of Massachusetts and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, and 16 former Republican members of Congress, including Kinzinger and Reps. Joe Walsh of Illinois and Susan Molinari of New York. All have been notable critics of Trump in the past.
Former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham is also endorsing Harris.
鈥淚 might not agree with Vice President Kamala Harris on everything, but I know that she will fight for our freedom, protect our democracy and represent America with honor and dignity on the world stage," Grisham said in a statement.
Zeke Miller, The Associated Press
