Critics rip third-party movement as useful idiots for Trump campaign

No Labels have been around since 2010, describing its outlook as "bipartisan" and helping found the centrist House Problem Solvers Caucus in 2017. Along the way, No Labels' supporters have included a combination of Blue Dog Democrats, non-MAGA Republicans and independents.

But in 2023, No Labels has received some scathing criticism from Never Trump conservatives who are supporting President Joe Biden in the 2024 election — most notably, The Lincoln Project, whose Rick Wilson has slammed No Labels as useful idiots for the Donald Trump campaign. Wilson considers Trump a dangerous, corrupt authoritarian and has been warning that No Labels could help him win in 2024 if it runs a third-party presidential candidate.

The New York Times' Thomas Edsall examines growing criticism of No Labels in an essay/op-ed published on November 29, noting that critics believe it has become, in effect, a tool of Trump and his allies.

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"Numerous factors exacerbate the suspicion that whatever its intentions are or were, the organization has functionally become an asset to the Trump campaign and a threat to the reelection of Joe Biden," Edsall explains. "Leaks to the media that prominent Republican donors, including Harlan Crow, Justice Clarence Thomas' benefactor, are contributing to No Labels — which is well on its way to raising $70 million — suggest that some major donors to No Labels see the organization as a means to promote Republican goals."

Edsall notes that No Labels' Biden-supporting critics range from The Lincoln Project's Stuart Stevens to Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Virginia). Stuart, in an April 2 tweet, complained that if No Labels runs a "third-party candidate" in 2024, it will be "operating as" an "arm of" the "Trump campaign."

Spanberger, a former CIA agent who is running for governor of Virginia, told Politico, "No Labels is wasting time, energy and money on a bizarre effort that confuses and divides voters, and has one obvious outcome: reelecting Donald Trump as president."

Edsall observes, "Many Democratic leaders and organizations — including Nancy Pelosi, state Democratic chairs, Third Way, a Democratic think tank, and advisers to President Biden — contend that a No Labels candidate in the race would probably doom Biden's chances of reelection. Critics of No Labels also argue, crucially, that a third-party candidate who was victorious in just one or two states could prevent both Trump and Biden from reaching the 270 Electoral College votes required to win the presidency."

READ MORE: No Labels is a front group for Donald Trump

Thomas Edsall's full New York Times essay/op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).