Truthfully, the Anti-Trump Republican is not such a fabulous beast these days. Between stacks of Republican security experts, former Republican EPA officials, and every former Republican president or presidential nominee (aside from poor Bob Dole) begging America to please come to its senses, it’s easier to find a Republican crying about Trump than a greasy burger in a Hardee’s.
It’s not hard to see why the ranks of former Republican leaders are chock-a-block with #NeverTrump. All of these folks would like to pretend that the carefully tended racism, misogyny, belligerence, and plain old nastiness that they helped to grow over the last decades has nothing to do with the rise of Trump. Nope, nope, nope.
But Republicans actually still in office have to be a bit braver, or at least more calculating, when it comes to shunning the Orange One. There are a number of lists of Republicans legislators and governors who have decided to steer clear of Field Marshal Twitter. Here’s another.
In the senior league, you have Maine Senator Susan Collins, South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, Illinois’ Mark Kirk (whose dumping of Trump is less brave than a desperate ploy to hold his seat), and Nebraska’s Ben Sasse.
There are also a number of senators who are in the “haven’t endorsed him yet … but open to change” League of Holy $%!T What Is It Going To Take. This includes Nevada’s “I’ll give him a chance” Dean Heller, oh-no-he-didn’t Texas Ted Cruz, “scared to death” Mike Lee, and how-is-it-possible-after-everything-you’ve-said Jeff Flake from Arizona.
On the junior circuit, you have Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, out-bound Richard Hanna of New York, Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen from Florida, Justin Amash of Michigan, Bob Dold of Illinois, Scott Rigell of Virginia, and Pennsylvania’s Charlie Dent.
And, just as in the Senate, there are a group of House members who have developed lockjaw. This includes Fred Upton of Michigan, Mike Coffman of Colorado, and Bruce Poliquin of Maine.
As far as states where Trump won’t find a cheery introduction from a governor ready to join the pogrom, you have: Massachusetts’ Charlie Baker and Maryland’s Larry Hogan. You might also think that Ohio Governor John Kasich belongs on that list, but bizarrely Kasich is still in the may-endorse-later zone.
There’s an extended list of governors huddling under a cone of silence. Strangely enough this includes some people you’d swear were Trumpers, such as Michigan’s Rick Snyder, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, and theoretical Trump VP contender (but who are we kidding, he was never going to choose a woman) Susana Martinez of New Mexico.