Internal party turmoil over Donald Trump spilled into public alarm on Wednesday after unprecedented self-inflicted mistakes by the Republican nominee for US president, as some in the party prepared to do the unthinkable: vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.
While “dump Trump” calls have continued since 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney trashed the billionaire’s candidacy early this year, it is unclear whether the trickle of defections to Clinton’s camp will become a flood after a series of stumbles by Trump.
A nightmare 48 hours for the embattled Republican flagbearer — he deepened his public feud with the parents of a fallen Muslim US soldier, refused to back US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan’s re-election bid and used crass language while accepting a supporter’s Purple Heart as a gift — has highlighted Republicans’ concerns.
Trump allies on Wednesday openly upbraided their candidate for his inability to stay on message, demanding more self-discipline by the political neophyte.
“He has not made the transition to being the potential president of the United States,” former US House speaker Newt Gingrich, a loyal Trump defender, told Fox Business Network on Wednesday.
In another interview, he said that Trump would hand Clinton the election unless he changes tack.
“Trump is helping her to win by proving he is more unacceptable than she is,” Gingrich told the Washington Post.
A Fox News poll showed Clinton with a 10 point lead over Trump, at 49 to 39 percent. Just a month ago, that figure stood at 6 points, Fox News said.
Trump earlier on Wednesday sought to dispel panic, reassuring voters at a Daytona Beach, Florida, rally that his campaign has “never been so well united.”
A growing list of Clinton converts suggests otherwise.
Prominent tech executive Meg Whitman became the latest high-profile figure to throw her support behind the former US secretary of state, saying in a statement on Wednesday that “Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.”
Whitman is chief executive of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and used to be CEO of eBay. She spent about US$140 million of her own money in an unsuccessful run for California governor in 2010.
Her defection came amid deep concerns at the top of the GOP about Trump, after a seemingly never-ending stream of controversies that include the nominee urging Russia to release Clinton’s e-mails.
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus backs Trump, but on Wednesday, Priebus was being described as “incredibly upset” that the New York real-estate mogul refused to endorse Ryan’s congressional re-election campaign.
Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, sought to assuage concerns, but his endorsement of Ryan for re-election suggested that he and Trump were not on the same page.
“I talked to Donald Trump this morning about my support for Paul Ryan and our longtime friendship,” Pence told Fox News. “He strongly encouraged me to endorse Paul Ryan in next Tuesday’s primary and I’m pleased to do it.”
Meanwhile, Whitman joined other key Republicans who have announced their backing for Clinton.
Richard Armitage, who served as US deputy secretary of state for then-US president George W. Bush and deputy secretary of defense under then-US president Ronald Reagan, defected in June.
Brent Scowcroft, respected national security adviser to two Republican presidents, endorsed Clinton, as did former Republican US senator Larry Pressler, who cited Clinton’s support for stricter gun laws.
Bush Treasury secretary Hank Paulson, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs, announced in a Washington Post column that he will vote for Clinton in the hope she can “do the things necessary to strengthen our economy.”
“To my Republican friends: I know I’m not alone,” Paulson said.
US Representative Richard Hanna on Tuesday became the first Republican member of the US Congress to cross the aisle and publicly back Clinton.
Trump “is unfit to serve our party and cannot lead this country,” Hanna wrote in a column for Syracuse.com.
While Hanna said he disagrees on many issues with Clinton, “she stands and has stood for causes bigger than herself for a lifetime. That matters.”
One Republican, Reagan administration official Doug Elmets, went so far as to announce his support for Clinton at last week’s Democratic National Convention, where he told delegates: “I knew Ronald Reagan, I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan.”
Other Republican stalwarts, while stopping short of endorsing Clinton, are shunning Trump or the party itself.
Sally Bradshaw, a top adviser to former Florida governor Jeb Bush, said she is leaving the Republican Party to become an independent.
And Republican US Representative Adam Kinzinger, a US Air Force veteran, told CNN he woke up on Wednesday realizing that Trump has “crossed so many red lines” that he can no longer support the nominee, “no matter what the political cost to me.”
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was