Branagan, who’s served in the state legislature for 13 years, fired off an email to state Republican leaders calling on them to publicly denounce Trump after he pronounced that the United States should block all Muslims from entering the country. “Please make a statement to the press on behalf of Vermont Republicans that we do not support him or this comment and please point out that his comment is against everything America stands for,” Branagan said. “He is damaging to all Republicans.”
Rep. Patti Komline (R-Dorset) took to Facebook to offer a similar condemnation. She called Trump “a megalomaniacal, racist, misogenyst [sic] who needs to go.”
Komline said that if the 2016 presidential race comes down to Trump vs. Bernie Sanders as the Democratic nominee, “I would probably be a Bernie supporter.”
By day’s end Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican candidate for governor, came out firing at Trump too. He tweeted: “Real leaders don’t reject American values, incite anger or exploit fear for political gain.”
“I’ve been kind of fuming about this all day,” Scott said by phone. “We have to speak up and tell our supporters and other that this is inappropriate.”
Trump’s in-your-face candidacy for president is creating a stir across the country, even as his popularity as a candidate persists. Here in Vermont, Trump has some Republicans beginning to seriously worry: What if he becomes the party’s nominee?
“It makes us look bad,” said Branagan, who noted that she is not yet backing any candidate in the presidential race. “That really bothers me.”
Branagan said she was driven to write her letter Tuesday because she was outraged at the idea of excluding anyone based on religion. But she conceded she also worries that if Trump is the party’s nominee for president in next November’s election, he will make it harder for independents — those who typically decide Vermont elections — to vote for any Republicans. “It’s possible,” Branagan said. “I already have people telling me that because of the national party they can’t vote for a Republican.”
Scott said if Trump is the Republican nominee, he will not support or vote for him. Would Trump’s presence on the ballot hurt Scott’s chances? “Probably,” Scott said.
Komline disagrees that a Trump candidacy would hurt Vermont Republicans at the polls. “We are different. It helps define us as not that,” she said. “I don’t know one Vermont Republican who supports Donald Trump.”
When it came to officially condemning Trump, however, Branagan didn’t quite get what she was looking for from the Vermont Republican Party.
Party Chair David Sunderland side-stepped criticizing Trump directly in a statement Tuesday, instead saying, “We trust the primary process and Vermont Republican voters to select a presidential nominee who supports our constitution, America’s sacred freedoms, Vermont values and who leads with both character and integrity.”
Sunderland said he doesn’t want the party to get into picking candidates before the primary, leaving that up to party voters. But Sunderland indicated he expects those voters will find Trump lacking. “I trust they will find there are significant questions and significant gaps Mr. Trump would need to close in order to give him their support.”
Branagan said she might pursue further efforts to make a statement — either coordinating a letter from individual Vermont Republicans to the national Republican Party or introducing a resolution condemning Trump when the state House reconvenes in January.
If she decides to pursue a resolution, she has the support of House Speaker Shap Smith (D-Morristown). “I’m just appalled at what Trump is saying,” Smith said. “It cuts against everything this country is founded on.”
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Thank you Patti, Carolyn, and Phil.
Vermont Republican Party chair Sunderland doesn’t want the Republican Party picking candidates even when the current leader of the Republican pack of presidential nominee wannabes is a narcissistic racist bully with dreams of a fascist government made up of right wing nationalism under authoritarian rule fueling militaristic foreign policy (ie Trump).
Do tell.
Trumps brown shirts will show up at the polls to support his radical right wing agenda. Will you show up to vote for a better future?
I am, sincerely, very happy to hear that Scott, Branagan and Komline are now speaking up against Trump.
But it is also fair to ask – what took them so long? Why was this the straw that finally broke the camel’s back?
Trump has been the leading candidate for their party’s nomination for 5 months.
During that time, he has repeatedly said equally offensive things — racist attacks on Mexican immigrants, denigrating John McCain’s military service, retweeting racist lies about crime statistics, calling for a national database of Muslims and closing mosques, spreading the blood libel claim of “thousands and thousands” of Muslim-Americans in NJ celebrating 9/11, making ugly sexist attacks on reporters and another candidate, mocking a person’s disability….. the list goes on and on and on and on. (And that doesn’t even go back to before his campaign — his racist attacks on President Obama through crude birtherism.)
I don’t doubt their sincerity (although considerations about the electoral impact of a Trump nomination on Republicans in Vermont probably played a role as well). Their Republican voices are needed to deal with the problem in their party.
I just wish responsible Republicans would have started speaking out months ago instead of waiting this long.
Hopefully they’ll now be joined by other Republicans in Vermont and across the country to stop this proto-fascist and racist from becoming their nominee.
In response to terjeanderson: Many of us have been speaking out against Trump since the beginning of his campaign. I thank Seven Days for covering statements we’ve been making for months. You say you don’t doubt our sincerity but allude to the probability that politics played a role in our statements. Our genuine outrage, like yours should not be called into question.
Representative Komline
Thanks for taking the time to respond — and for speaking out against Trump.
I’m pleased to learn that you’ve been speaking out against Trump prior to this. I’m a fairly avid consumer of Vermont media – print, broadcast and internet – and this is the first mention I’ve seen of it anywhere. I apologize that I was unaware of previous efforts.
I’m glad you’re getting attention now and hope you and other Republicans will continue to speak up and will get more coverage for these important efforts.
The allusion to the possible role of politics in your actions wasn’t meant to call your sincerity into doubt — but given that both Rep. Branagan and Lt Gov Scott cited those considerations in the article, it certainly wasn’t unreasonable to mention to it.
There are plenty of times when doing the right thing AND good politics coincide — this clearly being one of those times.
Very genuine thanks and appreciation for your efforts – and for continuing the fine Vermont tradition of moderate Republicanism on this and many other issues.
Republicans like Scott should have stood up a lot sooner. Instead they fed into the anti-Muslim racism by opposing Syrian refugees. Trump has just taken their racism and run with it…
I think the VT Republican party should focus on State elections and not worry about Donald Trump. The Republican showing in elections over the past 20 years validates my view.
Trump is Trump and will do and say whatever he likes. I don’t think he or any candidate for POTUS is counting on VT, save Bernie.
What Trump said recently is ridiculous. What really should happen is for the US to close borders to everyone until our system can better protect we the people. How many terrorist attacks need to happen, killing innocent citizens, before we all realize our vetting is woefully lacking?