Republicans unite and back Trump
June 1, 2016
After Senator Ted Cruz dropped out of the race for President of the United States on May 3, Governor John Kasich followed with his withdrawal from the race the next morning. Donald Trump would become the presumptive nominee for the Republican party. On May 26, Trump reached the number of delegates needed to secure the nomination.
However, not all Republicans are on board with Trump and some were considering putting forth a third party option or simply not voting in the election. This conflict was notably shown when Cruz recently announced he would not be voting for Trump.
Sophomore Kenny Sokoli believes that it is time for the party to unite and stand behind Trump.
“Speaking out against Trump is crossing a line; they are risking Hillary winning because of their egos,” Sokoli said. “They should just take the loss on the chin like many other people did and not be sore losers.”
Rep. congressmen Mike Bishop (R – Mich.) agrees it is time to stand behind the Republican nominee.
“Donald Trump was not my first or second choice for president, but I will get behind the nominee that Republican voters choose at the convention this summer,” Rep. Bishop said. “Ultimately, this is up to the people to decide, and they have spoken.”
Many Republicans have debated whether or not Trump is a true Republican, and this has impacted the voters. However, senior Matt Thiessen believes he represents the party now.
“It’s time to support Trump,” Thiessen said. “The delusion that you shouldn’t vote for him because he’s an outsider needs to change.”
Some argue that this disunion in the Republican party is because of Trump. Sophomore Nina Crocenzi agrees that Trump has caused some of the issues.
“Trump speaks what’s on his mind; sometimes this is bound to offend people,” Crocenzi said. “It has lead to Trump supporters against anti-Trump supporters and this is not how the Republican party should function.”
However, Sokoli believes that Trump wasn’t really a factor in the disunion of the party, but rather it was something that has been coming for a long time.
“The disunion was something that was bound to happen,” Sokoli said. “I think it’s been created by the left. We were bound to have an outsider that was a little bit unorthodox that would challenge the left’s ideas on political correctness.”
Sokoli also thinks it’s important to stop Hillary Clinton.
“If Hillary wins, America will fall apart,” Sokoli said. “She’s a criminal and lucky not to be in jail.”
One of the reasons Republicans question Trump is due to their lack of faith in his ability to defeat Clinton. However, Rep. Bishop believes that Trump will get the job done.
“I believe our Republican nominee has the ability to defeat Hillary Clinton this November,” Bishop said. “People have not forgotten her role as Secretary of State when four Americans died in Benghazi, Libya.”
Rep. Bishop hopes that the American people will look past the tensions that are occurring in the Republican party and will participate in the election this November.
“I’ve been in Congress for about a year and a half now, and if Republicans want to get even more done, we need a Republican in the White House,” Rep. Bishop said. “So I encourage everyone – no matter where they are in the political spectrum – to get involved and participate in the voting process this November.”