Ex-Republicans Are Inundating Twitter With Reasons Why They Quit The Party
Thousands of Twitter users have embraced a new hashtag to share why they chose to abandon the Republican Party.
#ILeftTheGOP was among the top trending topics Monday on Twitter, as people gave a range of reasons and dates for their decisions to opt out of the party. Many cited the Republican Party’s nomination of Donald Trump for president or specific decisions made by Trump during his presidency as the stimulus for their departure.
Political commentator Cheri Jacobus kicked off the hashtag Sunday night with her own declaration that she’d left the GOP in July 2016 when Trump became the Republican nominee for president.
Christian author Susan Bagwell chimed in with her reasoning on Monday. “#ILeftTheGOP because they no longer represent me or my values as a Christian or a conservative. They’re p***y-grabbing, lying, hateful, immoral weasels. I’m a happy Independent, now. No party owns my vote. It has to be EARNED!” she wrote.
Sophia A. Nelson, an author, opinion writer and political strategist, said she reached her turning point just this month.
“I left the GOP January 2020 because I am appalled at the GOP Senators lack of courage and excuses to Convict & Remove TRUMP,” she wrote.
Some people pointed to Trump’s 2017 endorsement of Alabama Senate hopeful Roy Moore as a catalyst. The president threw his support behind Moore even though the candidate was facing multiple allegations of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct from teenage girls and women. Media strategist Kurt Bardella, who formerly worked as a spokesperson for Breitbart News, the Daily Caller and multiple Republican politicians, shared an opinion column he wrote for USA Today at the time, announcing that the Moore endorsement was the “last straw” for him as a Republican.
Other former Republicans explained the reasons for their departure prior to the Trump presidency.
Here’s some of the commentary:
#ILeftTheGOP in July, 2016 as they nominated Trump.
When did you? Use the hashtag and give us your date!
Tag those you know cut the cord:)
cc: @IAmSophiaNelson @BillKristol @JoeNBC— Cheri Jacobus (@CheriJacobus) January 27, 2020
Please follow the #ILeftTheGOP hashtag my friend @CheriJacobus started it last night and it was picked up by the news media. There are MANY of us. I left the GOP January 2020 because I am appalled at the GOP Senators lack of courage and excuses to Convict & Remove TRUMP.
— Sophia A. Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) January 27, 2020
Seeing #ILeftTheGOP trending #1 nationally first thing on a Monday morning gives me hope.
Top reasons:
- Trump [sic]
- Roy Moore
- Charlottesville complicity
- the #TreasonSummit
And so many more...
Republicans are dwindling, which is a sign that truth and reason are alive.— Grant Stern (@grantstern) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP because they no longer represent me or my values as a Christian or a conservative. They're p***y-grabbing, lying, hateful, immoral weasels. I'm a happy Independent, now. No party owns my vote. It has to be EARNED!
— Susan [Needs a literary agent] Bagwell (@SweetieWalker) January 27, 2020
I just hope everyone who says #ILeftTheGOP is registered to vote and ready to flip the script in November.#BlueUnity2020
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP after 30 years when I saw the GOP’response to Trump’s Helsinki performance. I did NOT vote for Trump, and will never vote Republican again. I am now, and always will be, a Democrat. The corrupt GOP has lost all semblance of credibility and strength.
— I Hate His Ass (@145Mainstreet) January 27, 2020
Seeing so many people I’ve grown to love and respect on this thread of ex-Republicans.
You have principles. I admire that. 👊— 🏝 Kim (@kim) January 27, 2020
Donald Trump not only self-impeached himself, he's now self-removing himself with his lies. #ILeftTheGOP
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP last year when it was clear that none of the @GOP was going to stand up to Trump. Now I am sick that I stayed as long as I did. Wake up and stop defending the criminal you keep bowing down to.
— Stacey (@sshruff1) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP May 4, 2016 when Trump became the nominee. https://t.co/Gv2zZGckPA
— Wendy- AKA Human scum (@wendy_soxy1girl) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP in 2008, after watching Sarah Palin and her Say Anything and Pander Tour. I knew the toothpaste was out of the tube and never going back in. I had been an R for 20 years and had worked for two different Republican U.S. Senators and a state elected official.
— Brian Jay Jones (@brianjayjones) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP in 1989. I grew up in a conservative Christian community and didn't understand the difference between parties until I went to college. I am so enjoying reading through the tweets in this hashtag. I know Twitter isn't real life, but y'all give me hope.❤️
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP because their party is built on lies, hate, racism and hypocrisy. https://t.co/7aRPkgZVoc
— David Weissman (@davidmweissman) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP right before I registered to vote in 1987. I thought Republicans were learned sophisticates like Buckley, but when I went south for college I discovered they were...not.
— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) January 27, 2020
I voted for @HillaryClinton in 2016 but officially #ILeftTheGOP in 2017 ... I wrote about why in this piece for @usatodayopinion - https://t.co/4ZfsF24fZd
— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) January 27, 2020
#ILeftTheGOP at the age of reason.
— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) January 27, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.