Over 100 Republican Former Officials Threaten New Party
More than 100 influential Republicans plan to release a call for reforms within the GOP alongside a threat to form a new party if change isn't forthcoming, a person familiar with the effort said.
The statement, set to be released Thursday, involves a "Call for American Renewal," a credo that declares that it is imperative to "either reimagine a party dedicated to our founding ideals or else hasten the creation of such an alternative." The push will include 13 yet-to-be-revealed principles that the signatories want the GOP to embrace.
This is not the first group to form as the pro-Trump and traditional conservative factions of the Republican Party remain at loggerheads. The new effort comes as a vote looms to oust Liz Cheney of Wyoming from the number three House Republican leadership post for her refusal to stay silent about Donald Trump's repeated election lies and his role in the January 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.
One of the organizers is Miles Taylor, a former Trump official who, as "Anonymous," wrote an op-ed in The New York Times blasting the Trump administration in 2018.
"We're going give the GOP one last chance to get its act together and moderate, but we're not going to hold our breath. 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."
Taylor suggested that the nascent movement will work to back candidates who support its principles, whether they are moderates or independents.
"Enough is enough, and the GOP has had enough time to decide whether it's going to separate itself from a man who is a chronic loser," he said, referring to Trump, predicting a "raging civil war" if the rest of the party doesn't get on board.