We’ve
been hearing it for months: Many established Republicans won’t support Donald
Trump if he becomes their party’s 2016 presidential nominee.
But
after his most recent victories in six northeastern states at the end of April
and his sweep in Indiana on Tuesday, the New York billionaire is fewer than 200
delegates short of earning the required 1,237 to clinch the nomination. And as
of Wednesday, he’s the only remaining GOP contender in the race, after both Ted
Cruz and John Kasich suspended their campaigns.
Since
Tuesday night, when Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus urged
the party to unite behind the real estate tycoon, several prominent Republicans
have publicly said they won’t back Trump in the general election. And some have
said they will skip the Republican National Convention, scheduled for July 18
through 21 in Cleveland.
Trump’s
inflammatory remarks toward immigrants and women have given pause to some
members of the party, while others differ on his policy stances (or lack
thereof) on issues including the economy, foreign affairs and international
trade, to name just a few. Led by conservative blogger Erick Erickson, a pocket
of Republicans are now trying to draft a third-party candidate to prevent Trump
from taking the White House. Meanwhile, a small number of established members
of the party have publicly supported the presumptive nominee. Below is a look
at who has said what...so far.
Not
Boarding the Trump Train
Paul
Ryan, Speaker of the House
The country’s
top Republican and the party’s 2012 vice presidential nominee said on Thursday
that he’s not ready to back Trump, signaling the mogul’s uphill battle in
uniting the party in the next six months leading up to the general election.
“What
a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard bearer that bears
our standards,” he told CNN Thursday. “We want somebody who takes these
conservative principles, applies them to the problems and offers solutions to
the country that a vast majority of Americans can vote for, that they want to
be enthusiastic about.”
Trump
responded with a snarky comment, saying, “I am not ready to support Speaker
Ryan’s agenda.”
The
two are expected to meet next week to discuss GOP principles.
Mitt
Romney, Former Governor of Massachusetts and 2012 Republican Presidential
Nominee
Arguably
the loudest and one of the earliest opposing voices against Trump, Romney in
March called him a “fraud” and “phony” in a speech ahead of Utah’s caucuses. At
an awards gala in Washington Thursday night, the former Massachusetts governor
and ex–GOP nominee said he has no intention of supporting the mogul and won’t
attend the party’s summer convention.
“I
happen to think that the person who is leading the nation has an enormous and
disproportionate impact on the course of the world, so I am dismayed at where
we are now. I wish we had better choices, and I keep hoping that somehow things
will get better, and I just don’t see an easy answer from where we are,” he said.
Former
President George H. W. Bush
The
41st president briefly entered this year’s election cycle to support the dismal
campaign of his son, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
Now,
Bush Sr. has said he won’t attend the summer convention. “At age 91, President
Bush is retired from politics,” spokesman Jim McGrath told The Texas Tribune
Wednesday. “He came out of retirement to do a few things for Jeb, but those
were the exceptions that proved the rule.”
Former
President George W. Bush
Like
his dad, the 43rd president “does not plan to participate in or comment on the
presidential campaign,” including not attending the national convention, said
his personal aide, Freddy Ford, according to the Tribune.
Jeb
Bush, Former Florida Governor and Former 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate
In a
Facebook post Friday afternoon, Bush congratulated Trump on his victories,
acknowledging the businessman tapped into Americans’ widespread feelings of
anger and frustration. “Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength
of character,” he said. “He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution.
And, he is not a consistent conservative. These are all reasons why I cannot
support his candidacy.”
Once a
rising GOP star, early in the race Bush was considered the party’s
front-runner. But Trump repeatedly laid into him during debates and on the
campaign trail, famously calling him “low energy.” With anemic poll numbers,
Bush dropped out of the race in February.
Lindsey
Graham, U.S. Senator From South Carolina and Former 2016 Republican
Presidential Candidate
Graham
has been vehemently anti-Trump for months now, and the South Carolina senator
sent a series of tweets Friday reaffirming this, expressing his discontent for
both Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, her party’s likely
nominee. Graham said it’s difficult to believe that Trump could be a
presidential choice in a country as large as the United States. He also vowed
not to attend his party’s convention.
“I
also cannot in good conscience support Donald Trump because I do not believe he
is a reliable Republican conservative, do not believe he is a reliable GOP
conservative nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as
commander-in-chief,” he said. “I will enthusiastically support Republicans for
other offices in South Carolina and throughout the country.”
John
McCain, U.S. Senator From Arizona and 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee
Although
he disagrees with Trump’s views on immigration, the Arizona senator has told
the media he will back the billionaire because the voters seemingly have chosen
him as the party’s nominee.
“I
want to emphasize, I have taken every election with the utmost seriousness. I
take this one with the utmost seriousness,” he said, according to CNN. Earlier
in his campaign, Trump said McCain, a former prisoner of war in North Vietnam,
was considered a hero only because he was captured.
Still,
McCain doesn’t plan to attend the RNC this summer, saying he must focus on his
campaign for Senate re-election. His true thoughts seem to have been revealed
in audio leaked to Politico and published Thursday in which McCain said he
fears Trump could damage his hopes for re-election. Speaking on the recording
with donors in April, the senator acknowledged the frustration among Hispanic
voters, many of whom are anti-Trump because of his previous comments that
Mexican immigrants are “rapists” and “criminals.” Hispanics comprise 30 percent
of the vote in Arizona.
Ben
Sasse, U.S. Senator From Nebraska
Sasse,
who took office in 2015, first spoke out against the mogul in a February 28
Facebook post, saying he “can’t support Donald Trump.” This week, he again took
to Facebook in a widely covered post to emphasize the country needs an “adult”
leader.
“Although
I’m one of the most conservative members of the Senate, I’m not interested in
an ideological purity test, because even a genuine consensus candidate would
almost certainly be more conservative than either of the two dishonest liberals
now leading the two national parties,” he said.
Charlie
Baker, Governor of Massachusetts
Massachusetts’
newly elected Republican governor congratulated Trump and acknowledged that he
seemingly has clinched the party’s nomination “fair and square.” Still, he says
he won’t vote for the mogul or attend the convention.
“Some
of the things he said about women and about Muslims and about religious
freedom, I just can’t support. At the same time, I do believe Secretary Clinton
has a huge believability problem,” he said Wednesday. “This makes this a very
difficult election, I don’t think just for me, but I think for a lot of
people.”
All
Aboard the Trump Train
Rick
Perry, Former Governor of Texas and 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate
Perry,
who was a candidate for president in 2012 and the first contender to drop out
in the current election, once called Trump’s campaign “cancer on conservatism”
that threatened to metastasize into a movement of mean-spirited politics. But
lo and behold: The former governor now supports Trump and is even open to being
his running mate.
“He is
not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country, and he
will surround himself with capable, experienced people, and he will listen to
them,” Perry told CNN. “He wasn’t my first choice, wasn’t my second choice, but
he is the people’s choice.”
Dr.
Ben Carson, Former 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate
The
retired neurosurgeon, who for a moment in the fall pulled ahead of Trump in
some polls, formally backed the front-runner in March. After the mogul’s win in
Indiana Tuesday, Carson said he thinks Trump would consider a Democratic vice
president (even though the candidate has said otherwise). He’s helping to lead
Trump’s process in selecting a running mate.
“If
there was a Democrat who strongly upheld the Constitution, believed in personal
responsibility, a hand up rather than a hand out, fiscal responsibility, strong
military. We’d be willing to talk to them. If you know of any such Democrats
let me know,” he told MSNBC Friday morning. “But clearly you need people who
are consistent with the views that the president has.”
In an
interview with NewsmaxTV in March, Carson said Trump has promised him a role in
his potential administration. He said the candidate “will surround himself with
very good people.” When asked whether he would be one of those individuals,
Carson said, “I will be doing things as well, yes...certainly in an advisory
capacity.”
Chris
Christie, Governor of New Jersey and Former 2016 Republican Presidential
Candidate
No,
Christie isn’t being “held hostage” by his longtime friend, Trump. He even said
so. The New Jersey governor also isn’t a “full-time surrogate” for the former
reality TV star. Christie was one of Trump’s former 16 GOP presidential rivals,
but like Carson, shortly after he ended his campaign, he endorsed Trump for the
presidency. Widespread criticism followed from his constituents about spending
too much time out of his home state campaigning for the candidate, and a group
of six New Jersey newspapers called for his resignation in a joint editorial.
During
a press conference Thursday, Christie vowed to reach out to Speaker Ryan and
find out his specific concerns about Trump becoming president.
“Donald’s
my friend. He’s been my friend for 14 years,” said Christie, whose name has
been tossed around as a potential Trump vice presidential choice. “If he picks
up the phone and calls and asks me to do something that I can do, to help his
cause to be elected president, I’ll do it. But it has to be consistent with my
responsibilities here.”
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