Whitman endorses Biden in brief Democratic convention speech

Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman crossed party lines to endorse former Vice President Joe Biden against President Donald Trump Monday night.

“I’m a lifelong Republican. My parents were introduced at the Republican National Convention by their parents. That’s how far back it goes,” she said in a speech at the Democratic National Convention. “But this isn’t about a Republican or Democrat. It’s about a person, a person decent enough, stable enough, strong enough to get our economy back on track. A person who can work with everyone, Democrats and Republicans to get things done. Donald Trump isn’t that person. Joe Biden is.”

Years before Whitman became New Jersey’s first and only female governor, her father, Webster Todd, twice chaired the Republican State Committee.

Her Mother, Eleanor Schley Todd, was a Republican National Committeewoman for a decade and served as RNC vice chair. Both her grandfathers were GOP fundraisers. Her uncle ran for Congress as a Republican, and her brother was a GOP assemblyman in the 1960s.

The former governor has opposed Trump since 2016, though her roughly 30-second-long speech during a fully-remote Democratic National Convention put that opposition on its largest stage ever.

It also led Republican State Chairman Doug Steinhardt to call for her to leave the GOP.

“After she completes her endorsement of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris tonight, she should complete her change of party designation form tomorrow,” Steinhardt said.  “We’ll gladly donate the postage stamp.”