Donald Trump ‘Is Not The Future Of Our Party,’ Former GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock Says
In an interview on Friday, former Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock said that Donald Trump is not the future of the GOP, Mediaite reported.
Speaking with CNN host Anderson Cooper, Comstock argued that Republican lawmakers like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Ben Sasse could potentially become conservative leaders at some point, because they had the courage to stand up to Trump’s loyalists and condemn Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Greene, who was elected this November, came under fire after reports revealed that she endorsed the QAnon conspiracy theory and threatened prominent political figures, including a number of Democratic politicians, with violence.
Cooper noted that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, which suggests that the former president is still an influential figure in conservative politics.
But Comstock pushed back against Cooper’s suggestion, pointing out that Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 and in 2020 and noting that he left office with low approval ratings.
“Somebody that can get 35 percent of the national vote is not the future of the party. A 70 something-year-old man is not the future of our party,” Comstock stressed, adding that her organization helped a number of Republican women get elected this November, but refused to endorse Greene.
According to Comstock, Republicans should reject the QAnon conspiracy theory and push back against Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged for Democrat Joe Biden.
“QAnon has no place in the Republican Party or politics. We have to take that apart lie by lie. You know, starting with the president’s election lies. I think the lesson we have learned from January 6… is don’t lie.”
“And that is why Republicans are leaving this president, and I think yes, it’s going to take a while, but stop looking at Marjorie Greenes and start looking at these brave leaders,” Comstock added.
Polling does not support Comstock’s analysis, with most surveys suggesting that the former commander-in-chief remains incredibly popular with conservative voters. For instance, a Hill-HarrisX poll released earlier this week found that 64 percent of registered GOP voters would join a third-party led by Trump.
Similarly, in an NBC News poll released days before Trump left office, 87 percent of Republicans said that they approve of his performance in the White House. The same survey found that seven in 10 GOP voters believe Biden and the Democrats stole the 2020 election, even though there is no evidence to support that claim.
