The Lincoln Project’s desire to run Trump again leaves observers disgusted, shocked: ‘Extremely desperate’

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Top media headlines on November 26th

In today’s media news, The Washington Post was criticized for a tweet saying the Waukesha massacre was ‘caused by an SUV,’ The New York Times staff pushed for a holiday boycott of its Wirecutter service, and Seth went viral Rogen for shrugging off car thefts in LA

The Lincoln Project, on the surface, is strongly against Donald Trump becoming president of the United States again. The left-wing PAC founded by disgruntled former Republicans has called him cowardly, defeated, authoritarian, a clear and current threat 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 become the Republican nominee in 2024 has confused some people, especially in polls that show Trump has a solid chance of being ousted. President Biden in a rematch. Some consider it more of a scam from an organization that has garnered some praise for its aggressive tactics but also ridicule from right and left for allegedly abandoning conservative principles and soaking in the liberal donor. It still gets smart from the embarrassing scandal of John Weaver’s sexual harassment and its failure in the Virginia governor’s career where it tried to go viral to paint Glenn Youngkin’s supporters as White supremacists.

“It asks, why? What is their motive? What is their motivation? And I understand why a lot of people would say it has to do with money,” a network insider and political commentator told Fox News Digital.

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The Lincoln Project on CNN bragged about airing its ad this week in Trump’s hometown of Palm Beach, Florida, which was meant to annoy him about Florida Gov.’s rising political star. Ron DeSantis. DeSantis, a Republican, is an ally of Trump but could be a potential rival to the 2024 contender.

Former President Trump reacted after his speech at a rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 9, 2021 (REUTERS/Rachel Mummey/File Photo)

“We want Trump to kill his own babies,” Wilson said. “We believe that if we narrow the field and it’s only Trump in 2024, it’s an easy option for Americans to say ‘no.'”

Former Lincoln Project executive director Sarah Lenti, who left the group this year, is disgusted with that stance.

He remains strongly opposed to Trump and joined the organization in 2020 because he believes he is dangerous, and he recalls the New York Times op-ed written by co-founders Weaver, Wilson, Steve Schmidt and George Conway who announcement of the construction of the Lincoln Project.

“As Americans, we must prevent the damage he and his followers are doing to the rule of law, the Constitution and American character,” they wrote.

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Fast forward to now, he told Fox News Digital, and seems to have abandoned that mission.

“Wait, what happened to their higher calling?” he says. “If Trump is vandalizing the country in 2019, why is that being demanded of the American people now? If democracy is really at stake … why play with fire? Their push for Trump is reckless, disgustingly unpatriotic, and utterly desperate. And, like Trump, their greed and desire to be relevant is replacing what is best for America. “

A small group of demonstrators wearing “Unite the Right” rally-goers with tiki torches stood on the sidewalk as Republican candidate for Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin arrived on his bus for a campaign event with a Mexican restaurant in Charlottesville, Virginia, Oct. 29, 2021. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Lenti said he was aware of Weaver’s allegations in May 2020 and one of his victims accused him of harassment of leaving him. Lenti said that was untrue. He also said earlier this year that some co-founders were aware of Weaver’s allegations in March last year.

When Trump was president, the weather was good for the Lincoln Project. It brought in $ 90 million in 2020, winning media acclaim and Democratic accolades for its trolling ads and heavy anti-Republican commentary. That former GOP hatchet men are working to oust a sitting GOP president has cheered the liberal press indefinitely, but despite its demonstrated commitment to more Republicanism during the Bush era, it raised an eyebrow as it tried to expel even moderates like Sen. Susan Collins, R -Maine.

Ever since the calendar flipped and Biden took office, it’s been a nightmare year. The Lincoln Project was embarrassed by Weaver’s resignation from his years of online harassment of gay youth, reports that superiors knew of the allegations several months before they were claimed, accusations of financial mismanagement and a toxic work environment, and a bad isolation. female co-founder Jennifer Horn who ended up publishing her private messages to a reporter.

Then came its blow last month in the Virginia governor’s career, when it admitted to orchestrating a massive panned race hoax meant to liken Youngkin supporters to tiki torch-wielding White supremacists. The stunt exploded across the political spectrum, where Charlottesville (Va.) City Council and Terry McAuliffe’s campaign both condemned its actions, and Youngkin succeeded the following week. Even Schmidt distanced himself from the disaster, calling his own organization “reckless fool.”

Although the Weaver scandal destroyed the organization, there are already concerns about the group’s actual effectiveness in persuading Trump-skeptical Republicans to support Biden, and whether the co-founders are 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, who created its digital advertising, according to the New York Times.

After its success in 2020, The New York Times reported that Schmidt and its other leaders had designs on creating a billion -dollar global media empire from the Lincoln Project. Then came the Weaver story and a flood of brutal headlines that even former members called for it to dissolve. It is staggering, however, with figures like Schmidt and adviser Stuart Stevens still enjoying airtime on liberal cable news outlets MSNBC and CNN.

Journalist Ryan Girdusky, whose reporting helped unravel the flood of sexual harassment allegations against Weaver, called the Lincoln Project a “wounded animal.”

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“Its fundraising numbers are down, the stint against Glenn Youngkin is up, and their cofounders are having breakdowns on Twitter,” he told Fox News Digital. “They have a plan in the game; they think they can run again, run Trump and win the presidency in 2024 so they can restart the money machine. Getting weak-minded liberal mothers of alcohol who believed everything Rachel Maddow told them to donate again. “

Photos by Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner along with messages about coronavirus disease infections and deaths (COVID-19) and deaths on billboards sponsored by The Lincoln Project above Times Square in New York City, Oct. 24, 2020. Trump and Kushner’s attorney Marc Kasowitz demanded that the billboards be removed, threatening a lawsuit. (REUTERS/Jeenah Moon)

The Lincoln Project’s intentions also raise questions about whether it will receive more media adulation in the future. MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace, an ex-Republican herself and one of the Lincoln Project’s most ardent proponents, did not respond to a request for comment on its tactics. Schmidt and Wilson have appeared on his program “Deadline: White House” dozens of times.

Wilson apparently heard chatter online about his comments on CNN, which fired a tweet on Sunday that irritated anyone who doubted the Lincoln Project’s intentions.

“People who think we want Trump back in 2024 for any reason other than to kill his abominable, abominable cult and drive it to the trash of history are showing the same failure of imagination that they always have, “he wrote.

Wilson and Schmidt did not return requests for comment.

The political commentator who spoke to Fox News praised the Lincoln Project for doing so by advertising what Democrats have not yet done effectively in presidential campaigns. But its desire to keep Trump on the scene is meaningless, he said, saying the next GOP nominee has a “great shot” at becoming the next president.

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“If you believe Donald Trump is bad for the conservative movement, the Republican Party, and America, you want this man to live in Mar-a-Lago and on his golf courses around the world where he can’t make damage., “he said. “Because of how badly the Democrats are managing things today … why in the world would anyone believe that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy in the West, why would anyone want that person within a thousand miles of the White House ? “

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