Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has called him a threat to democracy. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton has declared him unfit to become president. And former Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse him, citing deep disagreements.

As Donald Trump seeks the presidency for a third time, he is being vigorously opposed by a vocal contingent of former officials who are sharply warning against his return to power and making dire predictions for the country and the rule of law if his campaign succeeds.

It is a striking chorus of detractors, one without precedent in modern times, drawn from those who witnessed firsthand his behavior during his time in office and the unrest that followed.

Sarah Matthews, a former Trump aide who tested before the House committee on Jan. 6 and is among those warning of the threat he poses, said he was astounded by how many members of his senior staff have targeted him convicted.

These are people who have seen him up close and personal and seen his leadership style, Matthews said. The American people should listen to what these people are saying because it should be alarming that the people Trump hired to work for him for a first term say he is not fit to serve for a second term.

Yet the critics remain a clear minority. Republican lawmakers and officials across the party have supported Trump’s bid, some with justification, others with passion and enthusiasm. Many aides and Cabinet officials who served under Trump are on board for another term, something Trump’s campaign has been quick to emphasize.

The majority of people who served in President Trump’s Cabinet and in his administration, like the majority of Americans, have overwhelmingly supported his candidacy to defeat corrupt Joe Biden and take back the White House, Trump said campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.

Still, the Biden campaign has aired the criticism from former Trump officials in statements and social media posts, hoping to convince at least some Republican voters, including those who supported other candidates during the Republican primaries, that they support his candidacy cannot support.

Trump says he will jail his opponents. Members of the January 6 House of Representatives committee are preparing

Those who worked with Donald Trump at the highest levels of his administration believe he is too dangerous, too selfish and too extreme to ever lead our country again, we agree, said Biden campaign spokesperson Ammar Moussa .

In many ways, the schism among former Trump officials is an extension of his time in the White House. The friction was ongoing as Trump’s demands were met with resistance from some officials and aides who refused requests they considered misplaced, unrealistic and sometimes downright illegal. There was frequent shooting. Many drop out.

Staff unrest was particularly intense in the chaotic weeks following the 2020 election, as Trump sought to overturn his election loss to Biden. Trump summoned supporters to Washington on January 6, 2021, as his falsehoods about a stolen election became the rallying cry for supporters who violently breached the US Capitol. Many people serving in the government quit in protest, including Matthews.

Trump’s bid to stay in office included a bitter pressure campaign against Pence, who as vice president was tasked with presiding over the Jan. 6 counting of Electoral College ballots. Trump was adamant that Pence should prevent Biden from becoming president, something he had done. no power to do. Pence had to flee the Senate chamber on January 6 when rioters stormed the building to the chant of Hang Mike Pence!

Zelensky calls Trump’s rhetoric on Russia’s war against Ukraine ‘very dangerous’

Pence recently said he cannot in good conscience support Trump over Jan. 6 and other issues, despite being proud of what they accomplished together.

And Pence isn’t alone.

Esper, who was fired by Trump days after the 2020 election, clashed with the then-president over several issues, including Trump’s attempt to deploy military troops in response to civil unrest following the killing of George Floyd by the police in 2020.

In a recent one interview on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, Esper reiterated the warning that Trump is a threat to democracy, adding: I think there’s a lot to worry about.

There’s no way I’m going to vote for Trump, but every day Trump does something crazy, the door to vote for Biden opens a little wider, and that’s where I stand, Esper said.

Trump’s most outspoken critics include former aides who worked closely with him in the White House, most notably a trio who rose to prominence by testifying about the Jan. 6 attack and Trump’s efforts to overturn the election.

The group includes Matthews, former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Cassidy Hutchinson, a former top aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows. They have given a series of interviews in recent months opposing their former boss.

How Trump propelled Schiff to the general election and likely a Senate seat

“Fundamentally, a second Trump term could mean the end of American democracy as we know it, and I don’t say that lightly,” Griffin told ABC in December.

John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, had his own long feud with Trump. Kelly described Trump in a lengthy statement to CNN in October as a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators and has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution and the rule of law.

Olivia Troye, a former Pence adviser who left the White House in 2020, and former press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who resigned on January 6, are both outspoken critics who said they did not vote for Trump in 2020.

Even Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, who has not ruled out voting for him again, has called Trump a consummate narcissist who continually engages in reckless behavior that endangers his political followers and endangers the conservative and Republican agenda brings.

Still, the ranks of former Trump officials opposing his bid vastly outnumber those who support him.

Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration under Trump, co-chaired a major fundraiser for the former president in Florida on Saturday with former Trump Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

McMahon also chairs the board of the America First Policy Institute, which is full of supportive former Trump officials and has been described as an administration waiting for a second Trump term.

Trump supporters and opponents briefly brawl outside the Anaheim convention venue

The institute is led by Brooke Rollins, Trump’s former domestic policy chief, and includes Pence’s national security adviser and the retired lieutenant general. Gen. Keith Kellogg is among its chairmen, along with former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Trump’s U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and former National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow.

Former Acting Atty. General Matthew Whitaker has campaigned for Trump, as has former Housing Secretary Ben Carson, calling him a friend of America.

Trumps also received support from former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, former Interior Secretary and Montana Representative Ryan Zinke, and Russell Vought, who led Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.

Vought said in a post on X that Trump is the only person I trust to take a wrecking ball to the Deep State.

Trump supporters are also quick to dismiss critics in the party.

Carmen McVane, who attended Trump’s rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, said those who speak negatively about Trump or refuse to express his support are RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only, and will only help Biden and the Democrats.

There are a lot of RINOs who aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing, McVane said. It’s time for everyone to support who we have and move full steam ahead.

Price writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, contributed to this report.