Republicans won’t be able to count on the support of columnist George Will this election season. The conservative pundit says he’s left the GOP and his finger is pointed at Donald Trump as the reason why.
The 75-year-old political commentator, who now lists himself as “unaffiliated,” is encouraging Republicans to deny Trump the presidency. “Make sure he loses. Grit their teeth for four years and win the White House,” said Will in an interview with PJ Media. He would note during a Federalist Society luncheon the same day that the current GOP “is not my party.”
Trump responded to Will’s disapproval with a tweet saying the columnist’s overrated, a has-been and prone to poor judgment. (It should be noted that Will writes for the Washington Post, an outlet that had their credentials revoked by Trump for being “dishonest.”)
George Will, one of the most overrated political pundits (who lost his way long ago), has left the Republican Party.He's made many bad calls
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 26, 2016
Will addressed Trump’s tweet on Fox News Sunday. “He has an advantage on me, because he can say everything he knows about any subject in 140 characters and I can’t,” offered the pundit. He also cited one Trump controversy in particular that made him lose faith in his party.
“After Trump went after the ‘Mexican’ judge from northern Indiana then (House Speaker) Paul Ryan endorsed him, I decided that in fact this was not my party anymore,”
A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll has Trump trailing Democratic rival Hillary Clinton by double digits. Next month’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland will certainly be an intriguing one for the culture of the GOP in 2016.