A day after promoting a party-switching former Republican who is running for Oklahoma as a Democrat, on Tuesday, CNN's New Day devoted a segment to a pair of disaffected Republicans who are encouraging members of their party to vote Democratic and keep Democrats in control of Congress.
Picking up on a piece in the New York Times by former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former Homeland Security Department official Miles Taylor, CNN host Brianna Keilar spoke with them live about their lobbying against their own party. She set up the segment:
Two longtime GOP critics of former President Trump offering some surprising advice for fellow Republicans who refuse to embrace Trump's chokehold on the party and his lies about the election. In a New York Times opinion essay, they write, "Rational Republicans are losing the party's civil war, and the only near-term way to battle pro-Trump extremists is for all of us to team up on key races and overarching political goals with our longtime political opponents, the Democrats."
After Keilar began by asking Whitman how she made the decision to take such action, the liberal former governor repeated tired claims that the Republican Party has no clearly identified agenda, in spite of all the issues that were acted on the past four years:
Because I believe in the Constitution, and it's time that our elected officials remember they took an oath to that, not to a party. And what I have seen is that unfortunately Donald Trump has created what I would call a -- it's just a cult. There isn't a party anymore. If you don't have a core set of values, if you don't have a platform -- which they didn't adopt at the last convention because he didn't want them to -- the only thing you stand for is whatever he tells you on a particular day and that is not my definition of a political party.
Although Whitman added that she also supports voting for moderate Republicans when they are running against far-left liberal Democrats, it was clearly the case they she was invited on by CNN to advocate against Republicans.
When it was his turn to speak, Taylor -- who is also a CNN contributor -- declared his opposition to top House Republican Kevin McCarthy being elected Speaker, instead preferring that Nancy Pelosi remain:
TAYLOR: What we're focusing on -- the governor and I and our organization, the New America Movement -- is those tip cases -- those key races around the country where we think moderate unifying Democrats, if elected, will keep the balance of power in the hands of current congressional leaders. That's not an easy thing for me to say. I'm a lifelong Republican, but I've worked with Kevin McCarthy. I think Kevin McCarthy cannot be trusted to --
KEILAR: Current leaders. You think the Speaker should remain the Speaker and that Democrats should remain in control of the Senate?
TAYLOR: Well, look, I'm a fan of Mitch McConnell -- that's not popular on the left -- but I do think as long as Donald Trump's allies keep putting withering pressure on Mitch McConnell in the Senate, to do things that are anti-democratic, then, no, the Senate needs to remain a divided body for the time being...
Taylor is most famous for being the anonymous official who wrote an anti-Trump op-ed in the New York Times, as the Times tried to pass him off as a higher profile figure than he actually was.
This latest edition of CNN mimicking DNC TV was sponsored in part by Safelite. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN's New Day
October 12, 2021
8:38 a.m. Eastern
BRIANNA KEILAR: Two longtime GOP critics of former President Trump offering some surprising advice for fellow Republicans who refuse to embrace Trump's chokehold on the party and his lies about the election. In a New York Times opinion essay, they write, "Rational Republicans are losing the party's civil war, and the only near-term way to battle pro-Trump extremists is for all of us to team up on key races and overarching political goals with our longtime political opponents, the Democrats."
Joining us now, the authors of this column, former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security under former President Trump, Miles Taylor; and former EPA administrator and former Republican governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman. Governor, to you first. You know, this is quite a step. This is quite a step. How did you come to this decision that you would implore other Republicans to support Democrats?
FORMER GOVERNOR CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN (R-NJ): Because I believe in the Constitution, and it's time that our elected officials remember they took an oath to that, not to a party. And what I have seen is that unfortunately Donald Trump has created what I would call a -- it's just a cult. There isn't a party anymore. If you don't have a core set of values, if you don't have a platform -- which they didn't adopt at the last convention because he didn't want them to -- the only thing you stand for is whatever he tells you on a particular day and that is not my definition of a political party.
And this country needs two centrist political parties because I think it's important to mention that we also say that Democrats should look to their left, and, where they see radical left candidates, they should support a moderate Republican. It goes both ways. But obviously our interest is primarily in the Republican party to restoring it to what it was -- at least I'd like to see it what it was when I grew up, a party that did stand for the average person in the center. It sought balance, and it got things done back in those days.
KEILAR: Miles, key races is what you're talking about here. What do you mean by that?
MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, what we want to look at is not every single congressional and Senate race around the country. What we're focusing on -- the governor and I and our organization, the New America Movement -- is those tip cases -- those key races around the country where we think moderate unifying Democrats, if elected, will keep the balance of power in the hands of current congressional leaders. That's not an easy thing for me to say. I'm a lifelong Republican, but I've worked with Kevin McCarthy. I think Kevin McCarthy cannot be trusted to --
KEILAR: Current leaders. You think the Speaker should remain the Speaker and that Democrats should remain in control of the Senate?
TAYLOR: Well, look, I'm a fan of Mitch McConnell -- that's not popular on the left -- but I do think as long as Donald Trump's allies keep putting withering pressure on Mitch McConnell in the Senate, to do things that are anti-democratic, then, no, the Senate needs to remain a divided body for the time being...
