These GOP power brokers dread seeing 'Trump renominated' — but are keeping 'mum': report
Prominent right-wing conservatives who openly detest Donald Trump are not hard to find, but they tend to be hosts on MSNBC (Nicolle Wallace, Joe Scarborough), members of The Lincoln Project (former GOP strategist Rick Wilson), writers for The Bulwark (Charlie Sykes, Bill Kristol, Mona Charen), or Republicans who held office in the past (former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge).
Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele often bashes Trump during his appearances on MSNBC. But like Scarborough (an ex-GOP congressman), Wallace (former White communications director under President George W. Bush), and The Atlantic's David Frum (an ex-George W. Bush speechwriter), Steele is a symbol of a pre-MAGA, pre-Trump GOP.
According to Politico's Jonathan Martin, many Republican power brokers who are critical of Trump behind closed doors are keeping "mum" — and aren't being very aggressive about their desire to see someone other than Trump receive the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
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"It's just under a month until the Iowa Caucuses," Martin reports in an article published on December 8, "and there's a striking lack of urgency among Republicans who do not want to see Trump renominated. There's resignation, rationalization, despair and even denial. Yet there's little action — well, except for the capitulation from those who have misgivings about Trump but want to avoid the hassle of being pushed by his lieutenants, pressed by conservative media and harangued at their Lincoln Day dinners."
According to Martin, the "quiet from so many of the party's lawmakers, former candidates and biggest names" is "revealing" about the state of the GOP in 2023.
"Unlike in 2016…. those who feel strongest about the risk Trump poses may have the least ability to stop him," Martin observes. "It's a depressing indication of our polarized times that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) could only hurt (Ron) DeSantis, (Nikki) Haley and (Chris) Christie by publicly rallying to their side."
Romney, who has decided not to seek reelection in 2024, told Politico, "If virtually all the GOP governors and senators were to say they would not support Trump, even in the general, I don't think his poll numbers would be harmed at all. They might even get better. I think the MAGA base dislikes our elected elites as much or more than they dislike Democrats…. Haley has a shot — a long one."
READ MORE: 'It's getting scary': Ex-RNC chair warns democracy is now a 'foreign concept' to Trump's MAGA army
Read Politico's full report at this link.
