More than two dozen ex-GOP lawmakers join ‘Republicans for Biden’

© Mary Schwalm/AP Photo Former Sen. Jeff Flake is a frequent GOP critic of President Donald Trump.

More than two dozen Republican former lawmakers endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Monday.

The announcement from the former vice president’s campaign coincided with its launch of “Republicans for Biden,” a national effort aimed at encouraging GOP voters supporting Biden to organize in their communities ahead of the November election.

The rollout of the endorsements comes on the first day of the largely virtual Republican National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and comes after the conclusion last Thursday of Democrats’ own virtual nominating convention based out of Milwaukee.

Perhaps the most prominent former Republican lawmaker to formally back Biden on Monday is former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, a frequent GOP critic of President Donald Trump who opted against running for reelection in 2018.

Flake urged Republicans last September against supporting the president’s bid for a second term — writing in an op-ed for The Washington Post that Trump had “proved to be so manifestly undeserving of the highest office that we have.”

In a news release Monday, the Biden campaign described the GOP endorsements as “a strong rebuke to the current administration.” The former lawmakers “are supporting Joe Biden because they know what’s at stake in this election and that Trump’s failures as President have superseded partisanship,” the campaign said.

Democrats sought to showcase Republican support for Biden at their four-day convention last week, offering speaking roles to former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former New York Rep. Susan Molinari and business executive Meg Whitman.

Gallery: All the top Republicans who say they won’t vote for Trump in 2020 (Business Insider)