During an appearance on CNN on Saturday, Rep. Charlie Dent told anchor Fredricka Whitfield that a group of GOP lawmakers is discussing leaving the Republican Party to create a new alliance, Raw Story reported.
“In fact, just yesterday I participated in a forum or a summit where we talked about the future of the party, should there be a new party or a new faction,” he said.
According to Dent, the group is currently discussing whether to create a new faction within the Republican Party or one that works outside of the current conservative coalition.
“That’s the conversation that many Republicans are having, and we’re united around core principles like democracy, rule of law, measured statements, and we’re against cronyism and this type of ugly populism that we’ve witnessed the last four years under President Trump and folks like [Rep.]Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Dent suggested that there is a “real fear” that the current iteration of the Republican Party is being consumed by fringe characters like Greene and expressed support for the Democratic lawmakers’ decision to remove her from her committee assignments — something he believes Republicans should have done.
In an editorial for The Roanoke Times , the staff argued that the Republican Party is not breaking into a new alliance due to the benefit it would give to Democrats. The publication noted that the U.S. federal system uses a bicameral legislature as opposed to the parliamentary system of Great Britain. Under the former, the editorial argued that Democrats would win significantly more elections if the GOP were split into two.
“There’s a powerful incentive to maintain the traditional two-party system and simply hope for the best,” the piece read.
Still, rumors of a possible new bloc continue to swirl. As reported by The Wall Street Journal , former President Donald Trump has allegedly discussed forming a new alliance with his associates. Although Trump reportedly claimed he would call the new group the “Patriot Party,” the real estate mogul and his team have distanced themselves from the Patriot Party political action committee, which seeks to establish a new conservative coalition.
As The Inquisitr reported, author Tomi T. Ahonen believes that a new movement that challenges the GOP from the right would ultimately end up as a far-right racist block that would leave the remaining coalition as a more centrist party focused on the principles of small government. According to the author, this would push Democrats further to the left toward policy positions supported by Sen. Bernie Sanders.