Trump Continues To Splinter GOP Heading Into Super Tuesday


As the Super Tuesday results come trickling in, about the only thing that’s been established is that Trump’s continued lead in the polls has further splintered an already volatile Republican Party.

Today House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) advised people against voting for Trump in light of his delayed reaction to disavowing the endorsement by former Klu Klux Klan chief David Duke.

Ryan made his comments at a House leadership press briefing.

“So today I want to be very clear about something: If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games,” he said. “They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. “

This comes a day after Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, 44, wrote a lengthy letter to his supporters on Facebook, talking about why even though he’s a loyal member of the GOP, he cannot support Trump if he becomes the nominee after Super Tuesday.

“I’m as frustrated and saddened as you are about what’s happening to our country. But I cannot support Donald Trump,” he writes. “Please understand: I’m not an establishment Republican, and I will never support Hillary Clinton. I’m a movement conservative who was elected over the objections of the GOP establishment. My current answer for who I would support in a hypothetical matchup between Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton is: Neither of them. I sincerely hope we select one of the other GOP candidates, but if Donald Trump ends up as the GOP nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option.” 

Trump has yet to respond to Sasse’s letter, but a month ago he went on the attack against the junior senator after he questioned the billionaire’s former political positions which opponents have claimed were too liberal.

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Sasse hasn’t been the only Republican to jump ship from supporting Trump recently, either.

Mitt Romney, who last week said there was a “bombshell” to be found in Trump’s tax returns, said Monday that Trump’s reaction to Duke’s support is a “disqualifying” move. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also jumped on that statement, saying she will “not stop fighting a man who refuses to disavow the KKK.”

Haley, it should be noted, was also recently seen campaigning for Sen. Marco Rubio in Atlanta before Super Tuesday.

And, while Trump received a boost last week with the endorsement of former rival Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the state’s former governor, Christie Whitman appeared on Fox News on Monday to say that if Trump becomes the nominee, she would likely throw her support behind Hillary Clinton.

Before appearing on Fox, in an interview with NJ.com, Whitman said she was “ashamed” of Christie for his endorsing Trump.

“I am ashamed that Christie would endorse anyone who has employed the kind of hate mongering and racism that Trump has,” she said. “I would have thought being from a diverse state would have given him more awareness and compassion.”

Former Rep. Ron Paul, who was a GOP presidential candidate in 2012, recently talked about his reasons for not supporting Trump on CNBC. He also talked about how there still could be “major changes” to the direction the GOP nomination is headed.

“The conventional wisdom as far as the momentum from history’s sake, yes, it looks like Trump very well could be (the likely nominee) but this is a year of surprises and … a lot of people are still quite worried about this and I think his tone is something, he’s tapping into a minority, a large one that’s very very annoyed, upset and angry and he’s able to bring them together but with no solutions whatsoever.”

Elsewhere, several notable Republican politicians and writers also have started taking up the anti-Trump social media campaign using the Twitter hashtag “NeverTrump.”

Trump, however, leads the polls in nearly every state voting today in Super Tuesday. His campaign could deliver the knockout blow to the rest of the field with a strong showing.

Featured image by Michael Vadon via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons license.