A conservative commentator thinks more Republicans against former President Donald Trump must consider jumping ship and voting for Democrat President Joe Biden . Former Reagan White House staffer Mona Charen, a columnist for The Bulwark , chastised another Reagan White House veteran for bemoaning the choices made in this year’s election. He also concluded that a devout conservative must reject Trump in favor of a third-party opponent. Charen believes more Republicans should pivot to the Democrat fold this election to defeat Trump and prevent him from coming back to the White House, Raw Story reported.
In a recent WSJ op-ed, honest-to-goodness Reaganite John Lehman, like so many who should know better, is failing to take responsibility for the decision we must all make. @monacharen on the cowardly third-party excuse: https://t.co/uBYQRwmYYr
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) March 19, 2024
“The world might look very different if traditional Republicans had been willing to stand firm for their values when they came under assault from an ignorant, cruel demagogue,” Charen wrote.
“So I was briefly optimistic when I saw that an honest-to-goodness Reaganite, John Lehman, who served as secretary of the Navy under Reagan, had weighed in [with a Wall Street Journal op-ed]. The headline was promising: ‘Reagan Would Never Vote for Trump.’ But after that bold beginning, the subhead was deflating: ‘He also didn’t care much for Biden. Like me, he’d be looking for a strong third-party candidate to support’,” Charen continued.
27% of Ohio voters are voting against Trump tonight. He is running unopposed. 20% are voting against him in Florida. It’s a closed primary. The Republican rebellion is real.
— Jack E. Smith ⚖️ (@7Veritas4) March 20, 2024
While Charen acknowledges that Biden’s opposition to failed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork troubled Reagan, as did most conservatives in the 1980s, and that Biden’s support for a nuclear freeze was a concern, she finds it puzzling that Lehman would not back the one candidate who he believes has a legitimate chance of thwarting Trump’s ambitions to overturn constitutional order and democracy itself.
“One might suppose that given all of that and so much more, Lehman would counsel that Trump’s reelection would be a disaster and accordingly, that he would vote for Biden,” Charen wrote, adding that she agrees with Dick Cheney, who propositioned that there hasn’t been a “more dangerous threat” to the American Republican than Trump in a 236-year-old American history.
Here is a montage of Republicans saying they will not vote for Donald Trump in November pic.twitter.com/lgaMLNkhZU
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 16, 2024
“Lehman, like so many who should know better, is failing to take responsibility for the decision we must all make. He’s treating his vote as a resume item, unwilling to tarnish his conservative bona fides by voting for the internal enemy,” Charen contends, emphasizing that Republicans have a decision to make, as soon as possible. “His longing for purity is overwhelming his judgment. If Trump is reelected, none of the things he worked for as Navy secretary is safe.”
“The country will be in secure hands with a reelected Biden. But with a reelected Trump, we risk our most cherished freedoms and traditions,” Charen argues.
It’s official. Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for President. Democrats, Republicans, Independents. Anyone who cares about preventing a morally bankrupt sociopathic from destroying our Democracy, will vote for Joe and preserve our 249 years of self rule.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) March 13, 2024
Charen writes that “anything that erodes the anti-Trump coalition makes it more likely that Trump will prevail,” in turn “increasing the chances that a man who promises to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists, imprison his critics, and become an ally of Russia, will be elected.”