Former presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate Mindy Finn are launching Wednesday a new conservative group opposed to President Trump, kicking things off with launched Wednesday with a television advertisement questioning his connections to Russia.
"Stand up Republic" is a new 501(c)4 political nonprofit organization. McMullin and Finn, both Republicans, waged a long-shot independent bid for president in 2016 to block Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton from winning 270 electoral votes, hoping to throw the election to the House.
They envision their new group as a home for conservative grassroots opposition to Trump, but they say they plan to partner with activists on the left who share their concerns about the threat they believe Trump poses to the Constitution, equality and liberty. Stand up Republic's first television spot questions Trump's ties to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, suggesting that the new president is hiding something and needs to come clean about his connections to Moscow.
The ad is clearly intended to provoke the president. It's slated to run for two weeks in the Washington and New York markets only — and only on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," because Trump is known to be an avid watcher of the cable news network's morning program.
"Our goals are to grow a grassroots movement that will be able to exert influence over both the president and members of Congress," McMullin said during an interview in which he provided the Washington Examiner a first-look at the group and the television ad.
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05.11.2024