Shortly before Republican U.S. representatives unseated Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney as House GOP conference chair Wednesday morning, The New York Times reported that more than 100 Republicans planned a statement denouncing their party.
The Times also reported that the same Republicans, fueled by dislike for Donald Trump, were “threatening to form a third party if the Republican Party does not make certain changes, according to an organizer of the effort.”
But Tom Ridge, former secretary of homeland security and one of the best-known of the “Gang of 100,” said that if his fellow “never-Trumpers” are thinking of leaving the GOP, they can do so without him.
In a statement to Newsmax, Ridge said that while "you can count me among the chorus of the disappointed, and although I understand the motivations behind the letter, I'm simply not going to abandon the party of Lincoln.”
The former two-term governor of Pennsylvania emphasized that his “strong hope is that we can work together to restore the Republican Party's commitment to key conservative principles such as limited government, the rule of law and fiscal restraint.”
“The G.O.P. has been a huge part of my life,” declared Ridge, who also served in the U.S. House and was considered for vice president by George W. Bush in 2000, “I'm proud of what the party has contributed to our nation, and I'm not interested in leaving."
Others on the list of renegade Republicans include former Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, and former Reps. Mickey Edwards (Okla.), Barbara Comstock (Va.), and Reid Ribble (Wisc.).
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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