They have broken with Donald Trump. They have gone public with their concerns about the threat that he poses to democracy and the rule of law. But vote for Joe Biden? That is a bridge too far.
A split has emerged in the âNever Trumpâ movement in the Republican party. There are some who denounce the former US president and contend that, in what is essentially a two-party system, there is a moral imperative to vote for his Democratic opponent in November.
Then there are the Republicans who forcefully disparage Trump but stop short of endorsing Biden, suggesting that both choices are unpalatable, forcing them to consider another option such as writing in a different name on the ballot.
This category includes Mike Pence, Trumpâs former vice-president, who said in March he would not be backing his former boss but also made clear: âI would never vote for Joe Biden. Iâm a Republican.â
There is also Chris Christie, an ex-governor of New Jersey who ran against Trump in the Republican primary elections. He told a recent event at the University of Chicagoâs Institute of Politics that he would never support Trump but nor could he bring himself to vote for the current president. âPresident Biden, in my view, is past the sell-by date,â Christie said.
He was joined this week by Paul Ryan, a former speaker of the House of Representatives. He told Yahoo Finance: âCharacter is too important to me and itâs a job that requires the kind of character that he [Trump] just doesnât have. Having said that, I really disagree with [Biden] on policy. I wrote in a Republican the last time, Iâm gonna write in a Republican this time.â
While such dissent from Trump and his authoritarian ambitions is welcome, critics say, refusing to support his opponent because of policy differences draws a false equivalence between them. If a significant number of Republican voters do likewise, not voting or writing in a name such as âRonald Reaganâ, it could prove costly to Biden in a close election.
Joe Walsh, a former Republican congressman and Tea Party activist turned Trump foe, said: âI have zero respect for guys like Chris Christie, Mike Pence and Paul Ryan who come out and say. âIâm not gonna vote for Trump but I wonât vote for the only guy who can beat the guy whoâs unfit.â To me, thatâs cowardly. What theyâre doing is staying relevant as Republicans. They want to run again as Republicans.â
Walsh, who challenged Trump in the 2020 Republican primary, added: âHereâs the deal. If, as a Republican, you say Iâm voting for Joe Biden because Trump is unfit, you end your career as a Republican. I did that five years ago. [Former congressman] Adam Kinzinger did that this past year. Then you end your relevance as a Republican. Guys like Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Mike Pence donât want to give that up. Itâs purely a political decision.â
Kinzinger broke from his party after the 6 January 2021 insurrection at the US Capitol and was later one of two Republicans, along with Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who joined the House committee to investigate the attack. He did not seek re-election in the 2022 midterms.
Kinzinger said this week: âWhile I donât agree with all of Joe Bidenâs policies, heâs not out to get democracy so I intend to vote for him. Even if he was like Elizabeth Warren, a little further left, he would not be a threat to democracy, but heâs probably fairly moderate in Democratic terms lately. I certainly donât think heâs as big of a threat as Trump is.â
Despite 88 criminal charges against him, Trump wrapped up the Republican nomination in March. But his support remains soft around the edges. This week, two months after exiting the race, Nikki Haley secured more than 21% of the vote in Indianaâs primary election, held on a day when TV news was dominated by the Trump trial and adult film performer Stormy Daniels.
Last month, in another sign of persistent discontent with Trump among the party faithful, Haley received nearly 17% of the primary vote in Pennsylvania. Biden has launched an advertising campaign to target Haley voters in predominantly suburban areas in swing states. A number of anti-Trump Republicans have been willing to aid the effort despite the risk of blowback from their own party.
This week Geoff Duncan, a former lieutenant governor of Georgia who has spoken out against Trumpâs election lies, endorsed the president and urged fellow Republicans do likewise. He wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper: âI am voting for a decent person I disagree with on policy over a criminal defendant without a moral compass.â
The former Reagan administration official Bill Kristol has also made peace with casting his vote for Biden, describing him as a âconventional Democratâ and âbetter than I expected on some things, especially foreign policyâ.
But Kristol said he respects Pence, Ryan and Christieâs unwillingness to take the extra step by voting Democratic. âItâs not a crazy decision. Itâs fair enough. They canât abide Trump, theyâre not going to vote for him, but itâs in a way not their responsibility that the other party hasnât provided them with an acceptable alternative.â
Kristol, director of the Defending Democracy Together advocacy organisation, hopes that line of thinking will appeal to Republicans who backed Trump twice and might resent being told to defect to the Democrats. âAs a practical matter, itâs worth it to get some of those voters just to not vote for Trump,â he said.
Kinzinger, the ex-congressman, agreed: âFor some people I do think there has to be permission to write-in somebody or vote against the two just because, if theyâre never going to vote for Joe Biden, Iâd much rather them just skip the ballot line. But those that can stomach it should certainly consider voting for Joe Biden.â
There are prominent figures still sitting on the fence. Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who twice voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trials, has not yet made clear whether he will back Biden. He told NBCâs Meet the Press last December: âIf I endorsed them, it would be the kiss of death â Iâm not going to do that.â
Cheney, who lost her seat in Congress to a Trump-backed rival, told the Washington Post newspaper in March that she was still undecided about whether to formally endorse Biden. She does intend to âeducateâ Americans about how dangerous Trump is in the lead-up to election day.
But another group of Trump sceptics in the Republican party have gone in a different direction, portraying Biden as a âwokeâ radical outside the political mainstream and Trump as therefore the lesser or two evils.
Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader in the Senate, eviscerated Trump after the January 6 insurrection; Trump routinely bashed McConnell as an âOld Crowâ and hurled racist insults at his wife, Elaine Chao. Yet once Trump secured the Republican nomination in March, McConnell endorsed him for president.
Bill Barr, a former attorney general who said last year that Trump âshouldnât be anywhere near the Oval Officeâ, has now declared that he wants to see Trump back inside it. He told CNN: âI think Trump would do less damage than Biden, and I think all this stuff about a threat to democracy â I think the real threat to democracy is the progressive movement and the Biden administration.â
Chris Sununu, the governor of New Hampshire, backed Haley during the Republican primaries but now supports Trump in the general election. He explained in an interview with the Guardian: âLook, I worked hard for Trump not to be the nominee but he is the nominee of the party and, while I donât care for Trump, Iâll take a Republican administration over this progressive, leftwing socialist administration any day of the week.â
The governor said of Biden: âHeâs created a culture here that America doesnât want to see. A culture of not dealing with the border. A culture of lying about inflation â inflation is crushing families. Depending on how families feel their financial pressures in November will determine who wins the election.â
To seasoned observers of the Republican partyâs surrender to Trump, such sentiments come as little surprise. Kurt Bardella, a Democratic strategist, said: âYou cannot make the case credibly that you are concerned for the health of democracy and then lend your support and, more importantly, your vote to the architect of the undoing of democracy. You own that. Youâre not just a bystander at this point; you are an accomplice.â
Bardella, a former spokesperson and senior adviser for Republicans on the House oversight committee, was also scathing in his verdict on those who announce they will not vote for Trump only to present Biden as equally intolerable.
âTalk about a lack of intestinal fortitude. Anyone who wants to try to put Joe Biden on the same plane as Donald Trump should have their mental health checked because that is just an absurd false equivalency. This is a very black and white issue here. Youâre either pro-democracy or youâre not. All the other issues that we disagree about â and there are many â donât matter if we donât have a functioning democracy.â