More than 100 prominent Republicans have reportedly signed a statement that threatens to form a breakaway party if the GOP doesn’t turn away from ex-President Donald Trump and reimagine itself in the spirit of its founding ideals.
A letter signed by the anti-Trump group is set to be released Thursday, reported The New York Times.
Backers of the statement, titled “A Call For American Renewal,” include former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge; former Transportation Secretary Mary Peters; and former Reps. Charlie Dent (Pa.) and Barbara Comstock (Va.), reported Reuters.
The breakaway movement comes as a civil war between anti-Trump Republicans and those devoted to the twice impeached ex-president engulfs the party. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) is likely to be purged from House leadership over her refusal to back Trump’s election lies as other prominent Republicans stand with the 2020 loser, despite his failings.
“Enough is enough,” said Miles Taylor, Trump’s chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security until 2019. Taylor in 2018 penned an anonymous piece for the Times, while he was still in his government role, attacking Trump.
“We’re going to give the GOP one last chance to get its act together and moderate, but we’re not going to hold our breath,” Taylor told NBC News. “We’re ready to get out there and fight against the radical elements in the party to try to excise those elements from within the GOP and our national politics and to try to invest in the deeper pro-democracy bench.”