Never Trump Republicans are still unable to accept the fact that former President Donald Trump will be the Republican Party’s nominee for president in the general election and are spending roughly $50 million to run ads featuring Republicans who say they can no longer support the presumptive nominee.
While Trump undoubtedly stood as the frontrunner throughout the entirety of the Republican Primary race, winning state after state, his status as the presumptive nominee was solidified after Super Tuesday when former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) opted to drop out of the race, presumably seeing no viable path forward. Unlike some of her fellow challengers, such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), she did not formally back Trump, despite admitting that “in all likelihood, Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee when our party convention meets in July.”
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C-SPAN“I congratulate him and wish him well. I wish anyone well who would be America’s president,” she said, failing to endorse him, instead stating that it is “up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him.”
Republican presidential candidate former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley walks past members of the media while greeting people, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, near a polling place at Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, N.H. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Some Republicans, however, are making it clear that they cannot be convinced and are not only opposing him individually but launching a nationwide campaign to convince other Republicans to ditch the former president as well. The group Republican Voters Against Trump, led by Never Trumper Sarah Longwell, is spending $50 million to air ads featuring former Trump backers who explain in a series of videos why they will not support Trump in this election.
According to the Hill, “The ads featuring the former Trump voter testimonials will be deployed on TV, streaming platforms, billboards, radio and digital media” and run in key swing states including Michigan, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Their website features dozens of videos of former Trump supporters explaining why they no longer support him.
Republican Voters Against Trump
“These are former Donald Trump voters. They supported him and his policies in the past. But now, they refuse to support him for president again. Watch them explain in their own words why they’re voting against their party to ensure that Trump never holds office again,” the website reads, with many of the individuals offering classic leftist-style critiques, pointing to January 6 and accusing Trump of wanting to be an “authoritarian.”
Seemingly ignoring the big picture and potential impact this could have on Republicans defeating Biden and his agenda this November, Longwell told the New York Times that they are “not building a pro-Joe Biden coalition.”
“You’re building an anti-Trump coalition,” she claimed.
In a statement posted by the Hill, Longwell seemed to brag about the impact this effort had in 2020 as well.
“Former Republicans and Republican-leaning voters hold the key to 2024, and reaching them with credible, relatable messengers is essential to re-creating the anti-Trump coalition that made the difference in 2020,” she said, adding, “It establishes a permission structure that says that — whatever their complaints about Joe Biden — Donald Trump is too dangerous and too unhinged to ever be president again.”
