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Gonzales made his endorsement of Harris in an article he wrote for Politico. In that piece he explained why he was taking this step saying, "I can’t sit quietly as Donald Trump — perhaps the most serious threat to the rule of law in a generation — eyes a return to the White House."
He said that while we have safeguards to act as guardrails on presidential power, that it is the president’s integrity, honesty and respect for our institutions that may be the most important and reliable check on abuses of power.
He had this to say about January 6th:
Perhaps the most revealing example relates to Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, when he encouraged his followers to march to our nation’s capital in order to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral victory. Trump failed to do his duty and exercise his presidential power to protect members of Congress, law enforcement and the Capitol from the attacks that day. He failed to deploy executive branch personnel to save lives and property and preserve democracy. He just watched on television and chose not to do anything because that would have been contrary to his interests. Trump still describes that day as beautiful. And as for those subsequently convicted of committing crimes, he describes them as hostages. He also has promised to pardon the convicted rioters if elected. Why? Because they were acting in his interests.
Only a handful of Republicans have had to courage to do what Alberto Gonzalez has done and actually endorse Harris or say that they absolutely will not be voting for Donald Trump. Some who following the January 6th attempt to prevent the peaceful transfer of power said Trump was unfit to ever serve in office again and had very harsh words to say about Trump, have now said that in fact they would vote for Trump. The most outrageous example of changing your mind about Trump is J. D. Vance who went from saying Trump was America's Hitler to serving as his VP nominee. Political ambition can often cause people to do change their position.
Some like Liz Cheney have ended the political career by speaking out against Trump. Some of those who have said absolutely they would not vote for Trump, such as the former Republican candidate for President Mitt Romney, are retiring from politics so have nothing to lose except some friendships. Many Republicans are saying nothing and are simply keeping a low profile. In normal times with a normal candidate, they would either be on the campaign trail for the candidate or at least publicly endorsing the candidate.
When writing about Mr. Gonzales' endorsement of Harris, I wrote:
It would be so easy for Gonzales to say nothing. He certainly has no friends of the left. He is reviled and hated by liberals. The easy route to take would be to say nothing. Even I, as a lowly blogger and politically vocal person in Nashville, have found it unpleasant to take a stand against Trump and endorse Harris. I am no longer part of the social circle to which I once belonged. Taking this position, will create enemies for Conzales and he will be ostracized. I don't know but I suspect this will come with some professional risk for Gonzales. Why would he do this? Because it is the right thing to do.
It has come at professional risk. It didn't take long. The publication Tennessee Star has on its front page a picture of Mr. Gonzales and the words, "Petition. Tell Belmont University College of Law to fire Dean Alberto Gonzales," and there is a link to sign the petition.
I don't know if this has any chance of getting Mr. Gonzalez fired or not. Alumni with deep pockets can excerpt influence and universities care about how they are perceived by the public. While such a petition would have no impact on a university like Vanderbilt or a State affiliated university, it may have an impact in influencing Belmont. Of course, a university like Vanderbilt would have never had a Republican dean in the first place. If they did, they would not be concerned about the opinion of a small sliver of their stakeholders. Since Belmont is a university with a reputation of being less dominated by liberal dogma, I suspect Belmont's stakeholder tend to be more Republican. Thus, a move to oust someone like Gonzales may carry more weight than at a more liberal university.
If there was a petition urging Belmont to stand by Gonzalez, I would sign it. If there was a petition urging Belmont to honor Gonzalez for his courage to do the right thing, I would sign it.
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