Conservative Publication Begs Voters to Abandon Donald Trump

Ahead of the 2024 election, a conservative publication is urging voters on Wednesday to abandon Donald Trump as the Republican party’s nominee and find someone new.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has been shown to be leading President Joe Biden in five out of the six key swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, according to a poll by The New York Times and Siena College that was published last month. Multiple national polls also show the former president leading Biden, despite Trump’s extensive legal troubles. Trump has maintained his innocence in all cases against him.

On Wednesday, the conservative publication National Review published an editorial titled “Republican Voters Can — and Should — Rethink Nominating Trump,” urging their readers and voters to put their weight behind another Republican candidate instead of Trump, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or the former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley.

“Trump feels inevitable, but nothing is settled until Republicans actually caucus and vote. They would be well advised to opt for one of the alternatives who are far and away better on the merits, more likely to win in November, and, if elected, more likely to deliver — free from the wild drama of a second Trump term — conservative results,” the editorial read.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s campaign via email for comment.

The editorial continues by explaining and warning that in addition to criticisms about Trump’s social media behavior, the main issue against Trump remains his alleged effort to overturn the 2020 election results and the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot.

“It’s true that his fulminations on social media are crude and ridiculous, but this isn’t the fundamental problem. He couldn’t bear to admit that he’d lost to Joe Biden in 2020 (after trailing him in every national poll), Trump insisted he’d won and did everything he could to overturn the result, including trying to bully his vice president into violating his oath and preventing and delaying the counting of the electoral vote,” the editorial stated.

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on January 6 in an effort to stop the 2020 presidential election results from being certified in Biden’s favor. The then-president baselessly said that the election had been stolen from him via widespread fraud.

“When a mob, fervently believing Trump’s lies, fought its way into the U.S. Capitol to try to end the count, Trump did little or nothing to try to stop it,” the editorial added.

In August 2023, Trump was indicted on four counts by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to the riot, comprising conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Trump has pled not guilty and has said that the case against him is politically motivated.

The editorial comes as a growing list of other Republicans have warned against a second Trump term, citing the events of January 6.

On Tuesday, in an open letter published to The Bulwark, a news site on Substack that provides analysis and reporting, 19 former Republican representatives who served in Congress in previous years sounded the alarm, asking the Supreme Court for a speedy trial in Trump’s presidential immunity claim in his D.C. election interference case, adding that the charges are serious and “existential for our democracy” as Trump bids for a second term.

“The accusations against Trump are grave. A grand jury charged him with conspiring to overturn the election and deprive millions of Americans of the right to have their votes counted. These are serious charges for any person to face. They are existential for our democracy when the defendant is asking voters to re-elect him to the presidency,” the open letter said.