Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) has said that he will not support Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, becoming the latest GOP senator to explicitly take this stance. Young did not tell reporters, however, whether he would back Trump if he were the Republican nominee in the general election, an indication that the party could still come together to support him if needed.
Young’s comments this week highlight the ongoing fracturing in the Republican Party over whether to stand by Trump due to his support from the base, or whether to back a presidential nominee who has less political, legal, and personal baggage.
“Where do I begin?” asked Young, a second-term senator from Indiana, when asked about reasons for his decision. “I can’t think of someone worse equipped to bring people together … and advance our collective values than the former president,” he told HuffPost.
Young’s comments follow similar statements from Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), both of whom have been vocal opponents of Trump in the past. Young has criticized Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection, but did not vote to impeach him in 2021 as the two other lawmakers did. While Young’s stance is notable, it’s not surprising given his somewhat more moderate positions and his willingness to call Trump out in the past.
Young highlighted Trump’s refusal to describe Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal as one of his concerns about the former president’s candidacy, and the fact that he — and several of his endorsed candidates — have lost recent elections. In 2022, Trump did not endorse Young’s run for reelection in Indiana, and the senator won his primary running unopposed.
“As President Trump says, I prefer winners,” he told HuffPost. “He consistently loses. In fact, he has a habit of losing not just his own elections, but losing elections for others.” Young has not yet stated who he’d back for the Republican nomination,…
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