During Tuesday night’s coverage of the 2024 Republican National Convention, ABC News anchor Linsey Davis interviewed Lincoln Project co-founder and never-Trumper Stuart Stevens, who bitterly criticized the Republican Party, claiming that it was “an angry party.”
Davis asked Stevens for comments on the Republican Party’s path forward following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, which ABC had previously blamed on Trump himself, as well as on the party’s future in light of Senator J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) selection as Trump’s running mate.
In response, Stevens contended that both marked “the full embrace of Trumpism for the Republican Party.” To him, the party had radically transformed into “an angry party,” to the extent that “George Bush couldn't get five percent in the Republican primary if he ran as he did in 2000.”
Yet, it was Stevens who betrayed himself as not only angry, but also terrified of a possible Republican win in November. The Republican-hater had a colorful history of fearmongering about all things GOP, proudly drawing attention to his experience as a Republican campaign manager, which apparently was enough to elicit such detestation.
Stevens further decried Trump’s realistic call to action against the heinous crimes of illegal immigrants against United States citizens, which the big three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) completely disregarded, as investigated in a recent NewsBusters study.
To Stevens, Trump’s message was “not a very optimistic vision” because “Donald Trump is out there saying we live in a third world country, an uncivilized country. There are these dark demons out there that are after us and you need a strong man to protect you.” He even dared to compare the current immigration crisis to Ronald Reagan’s speech in front of the Statue of Liberty, which honored immigrants.
Where Reagan’s speech was “an ode to immigration,” Stevens saw Trump’s call against the crimes of illegal immigrants, including the rape and murder of children, as an “attack on people who want to come to America for a better life.”
Stevens pathetically ended by contending that “it’s just not where the majority of the country is.”
The transcript is below:
ABC News Live
7/16/2024
08:38:18 PM ESTLINSEY DAVIS: How does the Republican Party move on after the assassination attempt on Trump? And, what does the future of the party look like with Senator J.D. Vance, now?
STUART STEVENS: Look, this is the full embrace of Trumpism for the Republican Party. Um, the Republican Party that I worked in, going back to George Bush, no longer exists. George Bush couldn't get five percent in the Republican primary if he ran as he did in 2000. This is an angry party. It's a party that has–Donald Trump is out there saying we live in a third world country, an uncivilized country. There are these dark demons out there that are after us and you need a strong man to protect you.
And I just don't think that that's where the country really is. It’s not a very optimistic vision. Ronald Reagan announced in front of the Statue of Liberty to send a signal to welcome immigrants. His last speech was an ode to immigration. And here you have this attack on people who want to come to America for a better life. I think it's–it’s just not where the majority of the country is.
