Republicans Voters Against Trump, one of the top NeverTrump campaigns, helped President Joe Biden win the White House four years ago. And this cycle they’re pushing to again keep former president Donald Trump from returning to office.
The group, led by veteran operative Sarah Longwell of
fame, has been conducting focus groups of swing voters — people in critical battleground states including Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and elsewhere — looking to find key pivot points which will help either convince them to stick with Biden in 2024, or at least not vote for Trump. (RVAT, among many groups on the right and center-right, has argued that if Trump returns to power he will attempt to plunge the U.S. into a dictatorship — something the aggrieved former president and presumptive Republican nominee has indicated he may do himself.)24sight’s Tom LoBianco spoke with RVAT political director Gunner Ramer and RVAT director of strategy John Conway about their latest findings. They’ve launched a $50 million ad campaign airing testimonials from former Trump voters who say they can’t support him anymore. Many of them cite the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, siege at the U.S. Capitol as the final straw.
From a purely political standpoint, these are the voters Trump would have to win back to eat into Biden’s current edge in the race. The latest indication of trouble for Trump was former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley winning a close to 17% of the vote in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary last month — despite having dropped out of the race long ago.
Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, has been ramping up its efforts to keep these voters in the fold for him.
The 24sight Pod - Episode 10: "I Will Never Vote for Him Again"