/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/lanacionar/W6VLBFUYBVBULK3AOJDN6TEU4I.png)
WASHINGTON.- Dozens of former Republican officials who feel the party is unwilling to confront former President Donald Trump and their attempts to undermine American democracy are in is negotiating to form a center-right separatist partyfour people involved in the discussions told Reuters.
The early stages of the discussions include former elected Republicans, former officials of Ronald Reagan’s Republican governments, George HW Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, former Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists, those involved say.
More than 120 of them made a Zoom call last Friday to discuss the separatist group, which would operate on a platform of “ principled conservatism, ” including constitutional and rule-of-law compliance, ideas they say destroyed by those involved Trump.
The plan would be to run candidates in some races, but support center-right candidates in othersWhether they are republicans, independents or democrats, people say.
Evan McMullin, who was senior policy director of the House Republican Conference and independent in the 2016 presidential election, told Reuters that he, along with former officials, organized Zoom’s call with concerns over Trump’s hold on Republicans. And the chauvinistic turn the party took.
Three other people confirmed to Reuters the call and discussions of a possible split, but asked not to be identified.
Participants in the call included John Mitnick, Attorney General for the Department of Homeland Security under Trump; former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent; Elizabeth Neumann, Deputy Chief of Staff for Trump’s Department of Homeland Security; and Miles Taylor, another former Trump national security official.
The talks highlight the wide divide between parties over the false claims of Trump’s voter fraud and the deadly attack on the United States Capitol on January 6. Most Republicans remain loyal to the former president, but others are seeking a new direction for the party.
The House of Representatives on Jan. 13 accused Trump of instigating an uprising by urging thousands of supporters to march to Capitol Hill on the day Congress gathered to confirm Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Participants in the call said they were particularly shocked by the fact that more than half of the Republicans in Congress (eight senators and 139 House representatives) voted hours later to block certification of Biden’s election victory. From the siege of the Capitol.
Most Republican senators have also indicated that they will not support Trump’s conviction in this week’s impeachment trial.
“Much of the Republican Party is radicalising and is a threat to American democracy,” McMullin told Reuters. “The party must renew its commitment to truth, reason and fundamental ideals, otherwise there must clearly be something new.”
“These losers”
When asked about the discussions for a third party, Jason Miller, a Trump spokesman, said, “These losers left the Republican Party when they voted for Joe Biden.”
A representative from the Republican National Committee referred to a recent statement by President Ronna McDaniel.
“If we keep attacking each other and focus on attacking other Republicans, if we have disagreements within our party, then we’ll lose sight of 2022 (elections),” McDaniel told Fox News last month.
“The only way to win is if we unite,” he said. Biden’s White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
McMullin said that just over 40% of participants in last week’s Zoom call supported the idea of a separatist national third party. Another option being discussed is to form a “faction” that would operate within or outside the current Republican Party.
Names that qualify for a new party include the Integrity Party and the Center-Right Party. If you decide to form a faction instead, one disputed name is that of the Center Right Republicans.
Members are aware that the US political landscape is littered with remnants of previous failed attempts by national third parties.
“But there is a much greater hunger for a new political party than I have ever experienced in my life,” said one participant.
Reuters Agency
THE NATION