Joe Biden picks up major military endorsement
In addition to another boost in the polls as Donald Trump’s approval rating continues to sink, Joe Biden has picked up some pretty big wins this week: a record fundraising haul, a riveting anti-Trump speech about the war for the soul of America that was aired by all the major news networks (Fox included), and now he just picked up another significant endorsement for president, from the former Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning, who oversaw the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations.
Fanning, who served a decorated career in both the Navy and Air Force before he was appointed Army Secretary in 2016, cited Biden’s integrity and empathy when engaging with servicemen and women as the reason behind his decision. He’s also the latest of a growing number of men and women with high ranking military and national intelligence backgrounds who have decided to openly endorse Joe Biden for president in what may be one of the most consequential elections in American history. James Clapper, Colin Powell, and John Brennan have all come out openly in favor of Biden, indicating that the dangers behind a possible second Trump term are very real.
As the first openly gay Army Secretary, Fanning’s warning was no less urgent: “”The next president faces a monumental task: repairing our damaged democracy and our eroded moral leadership around the world.” Typically, people in his line of work do not openly endorse candidates, to avoid politicizing the military or intelligence agencies, but Fanning’s endorsement is yet another sign of the continuing fallout Trump continues to face after his disastrous mishandling of the Lafayette Park protests.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making