Former Bush officials leave GOP over failure to disown Trump: report
By John Bowden - 02/01/21 07:46 AM EST
Dozens of members of former President George W. Bush's administration are reportedly planning to leave the Republican Party following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, citing the party's ongoing embrace of former President Trump.
Sources told Reuters that as many as 60 former officials would leave the party in the coming days, with at least one also citing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) promotion of conspiracy theories as a reason for their exit.
“If it continues to be the party of Trump, many of us are not going back,” said Rosario Marin, a former U.S. Treasury official, told the news service. “Unless the Senate convicts him, and rids themselves of the Trump cancer, many of us will not be going back to vote for Republican leaders.”
Jimmy Gurulé, a former Treasury undersecretary, added that the Republican Party as he knew it "no longer exists."
"I’d call it the cult of Trump,” he said.
“The number [of defections] is growing every day," said Kristopher Purcell, a Bush White House communications staffer, according to Reuters.
Reuters noted that neither representatives for Trump nor a representative of Bush responded to requests for comment.
Trump's control over his party has been an issue of concern for many national Republicans eager to rid themselves of the former president following the events of Jan. 6, when his supporters rioted as members of Congress were meeting to certify President Biden's win, despite the GOP's voting base largely remaining in his corner.
Former Trump officials find tough job market Republicans scramble to unify heading into next election cycleTrump has expressed his own interest in running again in 2024 following his defeat to Biden in November.
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