Lincoln Project’s desire for Trump to run again leaves observers disgusted, surprised: ‘Utterly desperate
Former executive director of Lincoln Project blasts group: ‘Their greed and desire to be relevant supersedes what is best for America’
The Lincoln Project is, on the surface, vehemently against Donald Trump ever becoming president of the United States again. The left-wing PAC founded by disgruntled ex-Republicans has called him a coward, a loser, an authoritarian, a clear and present danger to national security, and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans.
So co-founder Rick Wilson’s expressed desire in a recent interview to see him be the Republican nominee in 2024 has some people befuddled, particularly with polls showing Trump with a solid chance of ousting President Biden in a rematch. Some see it as more of a scam from an organization that’s attracted some praise for its aggressive tactics but also derision from the right and left for allegedly abandoning conservative principles and soaking liberal donors. It’s still smarting from the embarrassing John Weaver sexual harassment scandal and its flop in the Virginia governor’s race where it attempted a viral smear to paint Glenn Youngkin supporters as White supremacists.
The Lincoln Project boasted to CNN about its ad airing this week in Trump’s town of Palm Beach, Florida, that’s meant to annoy him about the rising political star of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis, a Republican, is allied with Trump but could be a potential rival 2024 contender.
“As Americans, we must stem the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and the American character,” they wrote.
Even as the Weaver scandal devastated the organization, there were already concerns about the group’s actual effectiveness in persuading Trump-skeptical Republicans to support Biden, and whether co-founders were enriching themselves in the process. In the 2020 cycle, according to OpenSecrets, the Lincoln Project paid $27 million to co-founder Reed Galen’s consulting firm, Summit Strategic Communications. Another $21 million went to co-founder Ron Steslow’s Tusk, which did its digital advertising, according to the New York Times.
“Its fundraising numbers are down, the stint against Glenn Youngkin went belly up, and their co-founders are having breakdowns on Twitter,” he told Fox News Digital. “They have one game plan; they think they can run again, get Trump to run and win the presidency in 2024 so they can restart the money machine. Getting feeble-minded liberal wine moms who believe everything Rachel Maddow tells them to donate again.”
“If you believe that Donald Trump is bad for the conservative movement, the Republican Party, and America, you want this guy living out his life in Mar-a-Lago and on his golf courses across the world where he can’t do damage,” he said. “Given how badly the Democrats are managing things right now … why in the world would anybody who believed Donald Trump was a risk to Western democracy, why would anybody want that person within a thousand miles of the White House?”
