Georgia Republican shifts support to Harris after backing Biden

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R) will be supporting Vice President Harris in November after previously saying he would back President Biden.

Duncan endorsed Harris in an interview on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “Politically Georgia” podcast that aired Wednesday. He has been a staunch critic of former President Trump and revealed in May that he would be supporting Biden instead of the former president for the White House.

He was asked on the podcast whether he has or will be endorsing Harris. He said after Biden’s poor showing at the debate last month, he thought the Democratic Party would do the “right thing” and have Biden step aside and “let somebody else step up.”

“And so that obviously looks to be Vice President Harris, and look, if she’s the nominee, yeah, let’s do this,” he said on the podcast. “Let’s beat Donald Trump the best possible way we can. If that takes me endorsing her, if that takes me voting for her, if that takes me speaking at a convention, so be it.”

Duncan emphasized that Harris must engage with voters who are undecided to have a chance at defeating Trump.

“If Donald Trump wins the hearts and minds of the majority of the 10 percent in the middle and Kamala Harris doesn’t, then he’s going to be the next president,” Duncan said. “And then we’ve got real issues on our hands as Republicans.”

Biden quickly endorsed Harris for the White House after announcing over the weekend his own plans to withdraw from the race. She garnered major endorsements and raised $81 million in the first 24 hours of her campaign.

Duncan is one of a few Republicans who had vouched their support for Biden over Trump in recent months as the campaign capitalized on their endorsements. Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) similarly endorsed Biden for the White House and has now signaled his support for Harris.

Duncan was floated as a possible candidate for No Labels — a political group that was pursuing the idea of putting forward a bipartisan unity ticket. He said in March that he withdrew his name from consideration on the No Labels ticket.

No Labels ultimately decided to not pursue a unity ticket after months of speculation.