In today’s Republican Party, even a noncommittal non-endorsement of Trump could be seen as a brave move.
Even though Donald Trump faces 91 felony counts in four separate criminal cases and a long list of other legal troubles, Republican leaders are lining up to endorse him for a second term as president. While this isn’t shocking given the realities of the modern GOP, it’s certainly discouraging for those hoping the Republican Party will one day return to being a political party with principles. Bending the knee to Trump isn’t a simple performative act. It is dangerous. We’ve seen what Trump will do with power.
That’s why Americans should take notice when a select few Republicans buck the trend, as Sen. Susan Collins of Maine did recently when she signaled she won’t support Trump in his campaign to take back the White House.
When Collins was asked whether she plans to endorse Trump if he clinches the Republican presidential nomination, the Portland Press Herald reports, Collins responded: “I do not at this point, no.”
Now, this isn’t exactly a new form of resistance from Collins. During the 2016 presidential race, she said she wrote in the name of another Republican rather than place her vote for Trump. But in 2020, she dodged questions about Trump’s re-election effort. This is why it’s important to underline how Collins framed her answer: “at this point, no.”
On one hand, this noncommittal non-endorsement could be seen as a brave move. Republicans have been cast out of the party for less. On the other, we’ve seen this script before. In February 2020, Collins voted to acquit Trump after the House impeached him for pressuring Ukraine to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. At the time, she explained her vote by telling CBS News that Trump learned “a pretty big lesson.” Collins added, “I believe that he will be much more cautious in the future.” That caution flew out the window on Jan. 6, 2021. Apparently, Collins learned a lesson herself. At Trump’s second impeachment trial, she was one of just seven Republican senators who voted to convict him for incitement of insurrection.
But while Collins made that important stand, she now opposes other efforts to hold Trump accountable for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. In December, she posted to social media, “Maine voters should decide who wins the election — not a Secretary of State chosen by the Legislature.” She was referring to the decision by Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows that deemed Trump is constitutionally ineligible to run for office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. A Maine court later put Bellows’ decision on hold. Since Trump is an illiberal force working to tear down the nation’s institutions, it shouldn’t be out of bounds for leaders like Collins to side with a state’s right to uphold the Constitution.
While some state courts and elected leaders have found Trump did engage in insurrection, a growing list of his sycophants in the Republican Party are bending over backward to kiss his ring. According to a tally from The Hill, 30 GOP senators and close to 125 House Republicans have already endorsed him for president.
Even some Republicans who at one point tried to hold Trump accountable for the Capitol riot are falling back in line. Former Rep. Peter Meijer of Michigan narrowly lost his primary after he voted to impeach Trump. Now that Meijer is running for the Senate, he says he will back Trump if he wins the nomination.
While too many Republicans continue to choose power over principal, a few conservative stalwarts are leading by example. Former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois paid the political price for siding with democracy over Trump. The Republican National Committee, an organization I once led, voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger for their leadership on the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Georgia elections official Gabriel Sterling both stood up to Trump and his allies at the height of their attempt to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. Their bravery resulted in death threats.
This moment in American history requires leaders who put country first, even when they and their political futures are threatened. Republican leaders who continue to prioritize party over country will be consumed by the selfishness and narcissism of Trump and his minions further undermining the values of our nation. If our elected leaders keep chipping at those values and tearing at the seams of our democracy, it becomes harder for this great experiment to continue. The answer, Sen. Collins, isn’t “at this point, no.” It’s just “no.”