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<\/p>\nRUSH: Here\u2019s Denise in Seattle as we head back to the phones on Open Line Friday. Welcome, and great to have you here.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Good morning. Thank you. As you mentioned, I\u2019m from Seattle, and I\u2019m a Republican in Seattle, and I had a question for you. I\u2019m hoping that you could clarify a point that you made a couple days ago where you said that the Republicans were going to attempt to put a third choice out there for the 2020 elections and thereby split the Republican vote and potentially put a Democrat in office. I am extremely concerned about this thought, because if those Republicans could see what\u2019s happening in Seattle because of Democratic policies, I would beg them not to do this, because any Republican —<\/p>\n
RUSH: Sad to say… Sad to say, the Republicans are not blind. They know what Democrat policies do, and they know what liberal policies do. They can see it. Seattle\u2019s not the only place. You\u2019ve got any number of cities that have been run for the longest time unchecked by liberalism or disasters. It\u2019s dirty water, poisonous water, you name it. Homelessness out the wazoo. That\u2019s not the point. The point is, these people hate Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
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Doesn\u2019t matter. Hillary Clinton would be preferable, to them, to Donald Trump. Bernie Sanders, anybody. They hate Donald Trump. It\u2019s all and only about that. Now, there are two competing stratagems here. One of the stratagems was put forth by Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, and his idea to get rid of Trump — \u2019cause the Democrats can\u2019t do it without help — is the Republicans have to nominate somebody that\u2019s to the right of Trump, and he doesn\u2019t have to get on every state ballot.<\/p>\n
They would like him to be, but just get on some state ballots where Trump won closely, narrowly in 2016, and split the Republican vote. Friedman\u2019s belief is that if you put somebody further to the right… Since Friedman thinks that all conservatives are neo-Nazi, right-wing, gun-toting, no-two-front-teeth hayseeds that drive pickup trucks, he thinks that if you put somebody that appeals to those people on the ballot against Trump that they\u2019ll all vote for whoever\u2019s to the right of Trump because conservatives are nuts.<\/p>\n
The other version of this is people who realize that Friedman doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019s talking about. Nominating somebody to the right of Trump is not gonna split the Trump vote as much as nominating somebody to the left of him would. The Never Trumpers in the Republican Party, which… Do I need to name names? Do you know who I\u2019m talking about? The Mitt Romneys. The McCains.<\/p>\n
These people want a moderate Republican like them on the ballot. They believe that there\u2019s 7 to 10% of the Republican Party that hates Trump and that if you give them a moderate, Washington establishment-type Republicans, they will break away from Trump and vote for that person and thereby dilute Trump\u2019s support. So those are the two competing ideas. I don\u2019t know that anybody\u2019s trying to implement Friedman\u2019s.<\/p>\n
But the Republican Never Trumpers are thinking about implementing theirs. I don\u2019t know whether they\u2019ll be able to pull it off. They\u2019ve gotta find somebody who can go through the rigors of getting on the ballot and in the debate. You can\u2019t just say, “I want to run for president,” and be on the ballot. There\u2019s certain things you have to do to gain your position on the ballot. One of them is including beating Trump.<\/p>\n
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Now, these people would not be Republicans on the ballot. They\u2019d be independents, \u2019cause nobody but Trump is gonna get the Republican nomination. So it would have to be third-party option, but it would be a moderate Republican. Remember, the idea is to have the Democrats win. The bottom line for this strategy is the Democrats win the presidency in 2020. That\u2019s what these Republican Never Trumpers\u2019 objective is.<\/p>\n
CALLER: And that\u2019s very concerning.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Ha!<\/p>\n
CALLER: (laughing)<\/p>\n
RUSH: No kidding.<\/p>\n
CALLER: That\u2019s beyond concerning, and I\u2019m not even sure what to say on that point.<\/p>\n
RUSH: I don\u2019t know that it\u2019s gonna happen. Look, it\u2019s not as easy as it sounds, and these people are not nearly as loved and popular as they think they are. I\u2019m just telling you what some of the thinking is now. Remember, since election night 2016, there have been people plotting how to get rid of Donald Trump, and many of the things we\u2019ve seen tried — such as the FBI, the sting, the Russian collusion, the Mueller report. I\u2019m just telling you: This is another one that people have in the hopper that they\u2019re thinking about. The fact that it may not happen, you have to consider.<\/p>\n
Just a strategy. Just a desire, just a dream, just a hope right now.<\/p>\n
BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n
RUSH: James, Staten Island in New York. Great to have you with us on Open Line Friday. How you doing, sir?<\/p>\n
CALLER: Hi, Rush. I\u2019m a longtime listener, and it\u2019s an honor to speak with you today. I\u2019m calling in regards to the topic of Republicans trying to split the vote by running a milquetoast Republican as a third-party choice.<\/p>\n
RUSH: Right. Right. The Never Trumpers and the New York Times trying to do that, yeah.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Yes. Yes. I think a lot of the Never Trump votes were accounted for in 2016 when they voted for Hillary, they voted for Dan Johnson, they voted for Evan McMullin. And I think that if they try that again in 2020, it would only hurt the Dems. Those votes would be taken from the Dems and, you know, it would be like a honeypot for Never Trumpers.<\/p>\n
RUSH: An interesting theory. So you believe the Never Trump vote has already abandoned Trump and he still got elected, so it won\u2019t be any big deal if they abandon Trump again because abandoning him in 2016 didn\u2019t hurt him.<\/p>\n
CALLER: Right. Because I feel like if you hated Trump, you either continue to hate him or you\u2019ve warmed up to him, but I don\u2019t think people are leaving Trump. I don\u2019t think people who voted for Trump all of a sudden hate him now and will vote for a Democrat, will vote for somebody like a Bill Weld.<\/p>\n
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RUSH: Oh, exactly. Trump hasn\u2019t lost his base. He hasn\u2019t lost his base yet. There\u2019s no way. And Bill Weld would not — that\u2019s a good name \u2019cause he\u2019s floating the idea of doing this, Bill Weld is. And he wouldn\u2019t have a prayer of doing any damage to Trump in states Trump needs to win. But, you know, your theory makes lot of sense because, look, a lot of Never Trumpers back in 2016 made a very public statement they were voting for Hillary.<\/p>\n
They wanted applause. They wanted to be patted on the back. They wanted to be praised for their patriotism and their sophistication. And they announced they were gonna vote for Hillary, they were urging other people to vote for Hillary. And you\u2019re right. It did not hurt Trump.<\/p>\n
So in effect the Never Trumper vote, abandoning Trump has already happened once. It didn\u2019t stop Thomas “Loopy” Friedman from coming up with the idea. Now, remember, Friedman\u2019s idea is to go get somebody further to the right from Trump. On what? How do you get further right of Trump on pro-life? How do you get further right of Trump on immigration? How do you do that?<\/p>\n
Well, you could say, “Trump hasn\u2019t closed the border. I will. Trump hasn\u2019t shut down illegal immigration. I will.” It\u2019s about all you could do. But the people that are devoted to Trump are still devoted and they\u2019re still connected. And Trump has not done anything to dampen that connection.<\/p>\n