During the Republican Party’s presidential nominating process, much of the party’s Senate conference threw its support behind Donald Trump, long before voters started casting ballots in primaries and caucuses. There were, however, some exceptions.
Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, for example, said he would not be among the former president’s backers. Asked why not, the Republican Hoosier replied, “Where do I begin?”
At the time, however, Young said he was withholding support from Trump during the primaries, and the second-term senator refrained from commenting on whether he’d back the former president in a general election.
We’ve now received some addition clarity on that point. WEVV in Evansville reported:
U.S. Senator Todd Young says he will not support former President Donald Trump in his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination. Young spoke about Trump’s take on the war in Ukraine, where Trump says Putin is not a war criminal and will not take sides as the war wages on. Instead, Young says what Hoosiers decide to do is their choice.
When CNN caught up with Young in a Capitol Hill hallway, the senator said, “Nothing’s changed from my standpoint. I trust the people I represent to make their own decisions about who they’re going to vote for.”
It’s not at all common for sitting U.S. senators to withhold public support for their party’s presidential nominee. And yet, Young isn’t alone.
It was just six days ago, for example, when Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski confirmed to NBC News that she won’t vote for Trump in the fall.
The Alaskan’s comments came on the heels of Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah also ruling out support for his party’s presumptive nominee. Speaking to reporters at the Utah Capitol, Romney said, “I will not be voting for former President Trump. I must admit that I find sexual assault to be a line I will not cross in the people I select to be my president.”
There’s no reason to assume this list won’t grow. NBC News asked Sen. Susan Collins this week, for example, whether she intends to endorse one of the 2024 presidential candidates. The Maine Republican replied, “You never say never because you don’t know what’s going to happen. But I certainly am not endorsing anyone.”
Similarly, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana was asked about who he intends to back in the presidential race. “I plan on voting for a Republican,” he told NBC News. “That’s kind of the only thing I’m saying about that right now.”
This list, of course, is not to be confused with the related list of former members of Trump’s White House Cabinet who are also refusing to support the Republican’s bid for a second term.
In case there were any lingering doubts, there’s no precedent for such circumstances. Since the dawn of the United States’ two-party system, presidential nominees have faced plenty of intraparty detractors, but we’ve never seen someone in Trump’s position face quite this much public resistance from sitting senators and members of his own team.
