Former 2016 presidential candidate Bobby Jindal warned “never-Trump” Republicans that their election-season opposition to the incumbent of their own party will not help return the GOP platform to one they closer align with – but instead “elevate” the Democratic forces they claim to similarly oppose.
Writing in the “Washington Examiner” on Friday, Jindal – a former two-term Louisiana governor – said that while many never-Trump Republicans have some policy differences with the president, they instead often target Senate Republicans and the entire contemporary GOP for scorn simply because of their alliance with or acceptance of the commander in chief.
“While many establishment Republicans opposing Trump simply resent their diminished influence, there are principled reasons they could cite,” said Jindal. “First, Trump has explicitly broken with traditional Republican positions on trade and immigration, imposing tariffs and reducing even legal immigration.”
He added that, thus far, Trump has also appeared less concerned with the traditional conservative doctrine on deficits and reforming entitlements. Despite those policy disagreements, Jindal continued, there are many subjects on which they agree with Trump, but their opposition to him essentially hurts their own cause:
“Yet, if they oppose the reelection of Republicans and support the elevation of [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, they should admit they are Democrats,” he said. The headline of the former politician’s column called such actions “short-sightedness.”
Jindal pointed to the Lincoln Project, a SuperPAC helmed by notable Bush-era and Obama-era Republicans, including former John McCain campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, GOP operative Rick Wilson, former top Schwarzenegger and Bush campaign aide Reed Galen, and attorney George Conway III – the husband of current White House counselor Kellyanne Conway.
He said that, in addition to its stated opposition to Trump, the Lincoln Project has targeted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as well as Republican Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Martha McSally of Arizona – both of whom are in key, close reelection bids.
Those actions, he said, instead essentially “help Chuck Schumer become the majority leader.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Working to defeat centrist senators will only solidify Trump followers’ control over the party after he is gone,” he said. “The primary sin these senators have apparently committed is their unwillingness to condemn Trump publicly.”
Jindal said never-Trump Republicans view “The Squad” members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., as the exception to the mainstream of the Democratic Party, but added that the true outliers are moderate Democrats like Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Jindal said never-Trump Republicans should accept Biden’s own campaign promises and comments as evidence of a political shift, noting that doing so places the Delaware Democrat further left than all previous Democratic presidents.
