Dozens of members of former President George W. Bush’s government are planning to leave the Republican Party after the January 6 deadly riot on the United States Capitol, citing the party’s continued adherence to the former President Trump
Donald TrumpBiden reverses Trump’s last-minute attempt to freeze 0.4 billion programs Trump announces new legal impeachment team after reported matches Republicans struggle to unify toward the next election cycle MORE.
Sources told Reuters that about 60 former officers will leave the party in the next few days, with at least one of them citing the promotion of conspiracy theories by MP Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) As a reason for her departure.
“If it continues to be Trump’s party, many of us will not be back,” Rosario Marin, a former US Treasury official, told the news service. “Unless the Senate condemns him and gets rid of Trump cancer, many of us will not be voting for Republican leaders again.”
Jimmy Gurulé, a former undersecretary of the Treasury, added that the Republican Party as he knew it “no longer exists”.
“I would say it is Trump’s cult,” he said.
“The number [of defections] is growing by the day, “said Kristopher Purcell, a Bush White House communications officer, according to Reuters.
Reuters noted that neither Trump representatives nor a Bush representative responded to requests for comment.
Trump’s control over the party has been a matter of concern for many Republicans eager to get rid of the ex-president after the events of January 6, when his supporters revolted as members of Congress gathered to certify the victory of the Electoral College President Biden, despite the GOP’s vote base largely remaining in its corner.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthyRepublicans struggle to unify toward the next election cycle The president has changed, but Washington, not the Republicans of Iowa and New Hampshire, struggle to set the tone for post-Trump MORE (R-Calif.), Under fire from Democrats and some from his own party’s centrist wing to take a stand against Trump and remove Greene from his committee assignments, recently met with the former president in Florida and is due to meet with Greene this week.
“A united conservative movement will strengthen the bonds of our citizens and defend the freedoms on which our country was founded,” said the Republican Party leader after meeting with the former president.
Trump expressed his own interest in running again in 2024, following his defeat to Biden in November.
Updated at 9:02 am