Some Republicans, in addition to the ‘Never Trump’ RINO faction of the GOP, secretly want former President Donald Trump to “lose soundly” to Kamala Harris for the sake of the party’s future prospects, according to a Politico report.
Politico’s Jonathan Martin claims he’s spoken to numerous Republican lawmakers who wished to remain anonymous who’ve said they believe “the best possible outcome in November for the future of the Republican Party is for Donald Trump to lose and lose soundly.”
“GOP leaders won’t tell you that on the record,” Martin wrote on Wednesday. “I just did.”
From Politico:
While it may seem counterintuitive, a sliver of elected Republicans and GOP thinkers fear a second Trump term could take the party in the wrong direction.
- Free-market cheerleaders are fretting about Trump’s new populist-infused policy platform that embraces tariffs and shies away from tough conversations about entitlements.
- Opponents of abortion rights are upset about his verbal flip-flops on abortion and impromptu suggestion that the government should pay for in vitro fertilization treatments.
- Defense hawks continue to worry about Trump abandoning U.S. allies and upending the world order in a second term.
“There’s a lot of anxiety about what Trump does to Republican ability to win in 2028 — and what he also may do to the party in terms of policy long-term,” one conservative leader told Playbook. “There is just this concern that like, ‘OK, if the party just goes in that direction, then what kind of party is it going forward? And can conservatives, then, have a home going forward?’”
Martin also argued that if Harris wins, the 2026 election cycle would mean Democrats have held the presidency for six years, which is “always a promising midterm for the opposition.”
“A Democratic House majority would also be far easier for Republicans to reverse under Harris than Trump,” Martin wrote. “And the GOP would almost certainly find more success in the 36 governors’ races taking place that year if they were running against the so-called six-year-itch.”
He went on to say that the GOP could then recruit Governors Glenn Youngkin (Va.), Brian Kemp (Ga.) and Chris Sununu (N.H.) to run for Senate.
Martin also said Trump must lose by a wide margin to make it more difficult for him to make the argument the election was stolen from him or possibly run a fourth time in 2028.
“The more decisively Vice President Kamala Harris wins the popular vote and Electoral College, the less political oxygen he’ll have to reprise his 2020 antics; and, importantly, the faster Republicans can begin building a post-Trump party,” Martin wrote.
Terry Sullivan, former GOP strategist and manager of Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) 2016, said an inevitable battle is coming within the Republican Party between the populist pro-Trump wing and the establishment.
“I think a lot of old-school conservatives might hope that if he loses, there’s an opportunity to just completely forget the last eight years happened,” Sullivan said. “I think this battle’s coming in the party no matter what.”
Trump spokesman Brian Hughes dismissed the Politico report, noting the former president has more support from the GOP base than ever before and has even gained support among independents and disaffected Democrats.
“President Trump has unified the GOP like never before and expanded his coalition of support across partisan lines to Democrats and Independents,” Hughes said in a statement. “Our campaign and down-ballot Republicans are poised for a great result in November, despite a few hand-wringing, anonymous sources who are not bold enough to attach their names to this drivel.”