Lifelong Republicans endorse Joe Biden for president -- and say 'Trump must be defeated'

A group of lifelong Republicans on Thursday said that they were endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden for president, while arguing that the United States simply cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump in the White House.

In an editorial published by the Washington Post, conservatives George Conway, Reed Galen, Steve Schmidt, John Weaver, and Rick Wilson argued that Americans absolutely needs a change in leadership as it faces its worst crisis in years.

"Biden has the experience, the attributes and the character to defeat Trump this fall," they write. "Unlike Trump, for whom the presidency is just one more opportunity to perfect his narcissism and self-aggrandizement, Biden sees public service as an opportunity to do right by the American people and a privilege to do so."

The authors then recount Biden's long history of serving in government, and the personal family tragedies that have shaped his character. All of this, they say, puts him head and shoulders above Trump as a prospective president.

"Unlike Trump, Biden is not an international embarrassment, nor does he demonstrate malignant narcissism," they write. "A President Biden will steady the ship of state and begin binding up the wounds of a fractured country. We have faith that Biden will surround himself by advisers of competence, expertise and wisdom, not an endless parade of disposable lackeys."