Dozens of former Republican officials who view the party as unwilling to confront former President Donald Trump and his attempts to undermine American democracy are in talks to form a center-right breakaway party, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Early-stage discussions include former elected Republicans, former Republican administrators of Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., George W. Bush, and Trump, former Republican ambassadors, and Republican strategists.
More than 120 of them made a call on the Zoom app last Friday to discuss the dissident group, which will operate on the basis of a program of "true conservative ideology", including adherence to the US constitution and the rule of law, ideas that participants say Trump has shattered.
Inpiduals say the plan would be to push for candidates in some contests, but also to support center-right candidates in others, whether they are Republicans, independents, or Democrats.
Evan McMullen, who was senior policy director at the Republican Congress in the House of Representatives and ran as an independent in the 2016 presidential election, told Reuters that he co-hosted a "Zoom" call with former officials concerned about Trump's grip on Republicans and the national transformation he has taken the party.
Participants on the call included John Mitnick, general counsel to the Trump administration of Homeland Security and former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent, Elizabeth Newman, deputy chief of staff in the Department of Homeland Security under Trump, and Miles Taylor, another former homeland security official during his tenure as well.
The talks highlighted the widespread disagreement within the party over Trump's false allegations of election fraud and the bloody storming of the US Capitol on January 6. Most Republicans remain fiercely loyal to the former president, but others are looking for a new direction to the party.
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