According to a report from the Guardian, Donald Trump's re-election woes are being exacerbated by unexpected opponents that he didn't have to face in 2016 — renegade Republicans who feel he has damaged the country while gutting the party they used to call home.
Sometimes referred to as "Never Trumpers," some of these conservatives have abandoned the party and, much to the president's dismay, have unified around a common theme of driving him from office in November.
In 2016, Trump only had to contend with the Democrats and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while mainstream Republicans cautiously cast their votes for the now-president. In 2020, Trump is now faced with multiple groups of motivated conservatives, Republicans and former Republicans who have grown tired of his act, with one stating, "We have got to do something else."
Along with the highly publicized Lincoln Project headed by prominent conservatives Rick Wilson and George Conway, Trump now has to contend with a collection of former members of President George W. Bush's administration.
"The latest prominent Republican anti-Trump organization made its debut in early July. It's a Super Pac called 43 Alumni for Biden, and aims to rally alumni of George W Bush's administration to support the Democrat," reports the Guardian. "The new Super Pac was co-founded by Kristopher Purcell, a former Bush administration official; John Farner, who worked in the commerce department during the Bush administration; and Karen Kirksey, another longtime Republican operative. Kirksey is the Super Pac's director."
According to Purcell, "After seeing three and a half years of chaos and incompetence and division, a lot of people have just been pushed to say, 'We have got to do something else. We may not be fully on board with the Democratic agenda, but this is a one-issue election. 'Are you for Donald Trump, or are you for America.'"
Also hoping to turn the president out of office is Republican Voters Against Trump, led by neo-conservative Bill Kristol and GOP consultant Tim Miller who was once the spokesperson for the Republican National Committee.
According to Miller, "Lincoln is doing two things really well. One is narrative-setting, and just beating Trump over the head with hard-hitting attacks. And they're also working on Senate races, which we're not doing. I think that, frankly, they're bringing the sledgehammer and working on Senate races, and we are elevating these peer voices in a way to persuade voters."
Also on the horizon is yet another group headed up by former Bush homeland security adviser Ken Wainstein, and John Bellinger III, who served in the state department who hope to "rally national security officials away from Trump – either by supporting Biden or writing in someone else."
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