Washington, Sep 4 : A group representing almost 100 former Republican lawmakers and officials have endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in an effort to defeat President Donald Trump in the November 3 election. The group, called Republicans & Independents for Biden, led by former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, stated that its "sole mission is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden the next President of the US", Xinhua news agency reported. "More than 180,000 Americans are dead from a pandemic that, with consistent leadership, could have been contained. "Instead, it has been left to spin out of control by a President who ignored it, refused to lead and endangered American lives," Whitman said in a statement on Thursday. "In this moment of great national crisis, we need to elect a leader matched to the moment, someone who can restore competence to the Oval Office and unify the country. "Joe Biden is that leader," Whitman added. The group also includes former Republican Governors Rick Snyder and Bill Weld, a onetime 2020 presidential candidate. In an article for USA Today on Thursday, Snyder blasted Trump as "a bully who lacks a moral compass" while praising Biden as someone who has "shown the desire to heal a deeply divided nation". The group is planning to target Republican-leaning and independent voters in battleground states where Trump is within single digits of his Democratic rival, according to media reports. A Monmouth University poll released on Wednesday found the two candidates virtually tied in Pennsylvania, one of Trump's key pickups over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016. /IANS