Donald Trump and anti-Trump Republicans are trading third-party threats as Trump’s lead in the Republican presidential primary has grown and some Republicans are finally taking steps to try to beat him. Trump is once again deploying the threat that helped protect him from attacks earlier in the race:
“I am watching television and I am seeing ad after ad after ad put in by the establishment knocking the hell out of me, and it’s really unfair,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “But if I leave, if I go, regardless of independent, which I may do — I mean, may or may not. But if I go, I will tell you, these millions of people that joined, they’re all coming with me.”
And, with some prominent Republicans finally coming out and saying they would never vote for Trump even if he’s up against Hillary Clinton, there’s starting to be talk of a third-party challenge if Trump is the Republican nominee:
William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard magazine, said he would work actively to put forward an “independent Republican” ticket if Mr. Trump was the nominee, and floated Mr. Sasse as a recruit.
“That ticket would simply be a one-time, emergency adjustment to the unfortunate circumstance (if it happens) of a Trump nomination,” Mr. Kristol wrote in an email. It “would support other Republicans running for Congress and other offices, and would allow voters to correct the temporary mistake (if they make it) of nominating Trump.”
Thing is, Trump is much more likely to follow through and more likely to draw a substantial number of votes if he does. It looks like that threat is no longer enough to fully protect him from attack. But on the flip side, he’s probably not lying awake at night worrying about Bill Kristol recruiting a senator few people have ever heard of to mount a third-party challenge if Trump is the nominee.