Republican Accountability Project (RAP), formerly Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), is a political initiative launched in May 2020 by
Defending Democracy Together Republicans for the Rule of Law is the principal initiative of the conservative, anti-Donald Trump political group Defending Democracy Together, founded by Bill Kristol, Mona Charen, Linda Chavez, Sarah Longwell, and Andy Zwick in 2019. The projec ...
for the
2020 U.S. presidential election cycle.
The project was formed to produce a US$10 million advertising campaign focused on 100 testimonials by
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
s,
conservatives
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
, moderates, right-leaning
independent voter
An independent voter, often also called an unaffiliated voter or non-affiliated voter in the United States, is a voter who does not align themselves with a political party. An independent is variously defined as a voter who votes for candidates o ...
s, and former Trump voters explaining why they would not vote for Donald Trump in 2020.
By August 2020, they had collected 500 testimonials.
On January 29, 2021, it transitioned to the Republican Accountability Project (RAP), which focuses on defending "Republican principles", and attacking Republicans whom they hold responsible for the
2021 storming of the United States Capitol
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of then-United States President, U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol, U ...
.
Strategy
During the 2020 presidential campaign
The advertising campaign targets white college-educated suburban voters in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
,
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
and
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
.
Paul Waldman, writing for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' compared the campaign to a similar 1964
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
ad called "
Confessions of a Republican
"Confessions of a Republican" is a political advertisement aired on television during the 1964 United States presidential election by incumbent president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign.
Background of creation
In the advertisement, a man in his lat ...
" giving Republicans "permission" to vote against
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...
in the
1964 presidential election.
Ad space purchased on social media and
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
was scheduled to start the first week of June 2020. An ad produced by RVAT featuring Trump's
descriptions of the coronavirus pandemic was planned to air during the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...
in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania.
After the 2020 presidential election
After the election, the
lame duck president questioned the legitimacy of the results and encouraged his supporters to demonstrate in support of overturning the results.
After the
2021 storming of the US capitol, RVAP transitioned to assessing legislators on their willingness to support the assertions that the election results were not legitimate and their support of the January 6th event and of
overturning the election results.
In April 2021, the organization released a "GOP democracy report card" which gave 14 members of congress an A and over 100 members an F.
Ads featuring former Trump officials
In August 2020, former senior official in the Trump administration
Miles Taylor filmed a spot, calling Trump "dangerous" and saying "What we saw week in and week out, for me, after two and a half years in that administration, was terrifying. We would go in to try to talk to him about a pressing national security issue—cyberattack, terrorism threat—he wasn't interested in those things. To him, they weren't priorities." Later that month another former Homeland Security staffer from the Trump administration,
Elizabeth Neumann
Elizabeth Neumann (born 1979) is an American former homeland security official. In the Trump administration she served from February 2017 to April 2020 as a senior advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ...
, made an ad in which she endorsed Biden and called Trump "racist" and "a threat to America."
In September,
Olivia Troye
Olivia Troye is an American national security official who worked on national security and homeland security issues at the National Counterterrorism Center, the United States Department of Energy Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, an ...
, former homeland security and counterterrorism advisor to
Vice President Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
and aide to the
White House Coronavirus Task Force
The White House Coronavirus Task Force was the United States Department of State task force during the Trump administration that "coordinate and overs wthe administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and mitigate the spread" of cor ...
filmed an ad endorsing Biden.
Ads featuring other high-profile individuals
In October 2020 former CIA director and retired General
Michael Hayden made an ad for the group. In October former GOP congressman
Jim Kolbe
James Thomas Kolbe (June 28, 1942 – December 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Arizona's 5th congressional district from 1985 to 2003 and its 8t ...
made an ad.
Leadership
Organizers included Republican political strategist
Sarah Longwell
Sarah Longwell is an American political strategist and publisher of the neoconservative news and opinion website '' The Bulwark''. A member of the Republican Party, she is the founder of Republican Voters Against Trump (now the Republican Account ...
, conservative writer
Bill Kristol
William Kristol (; born December 23, 1952) is an American neoconservative writer. A frequent commentator on several networks including CNN, he was the founder and editor-at-large of the political magazine ''The Weekly Standard''. Kristol is now ...
, GOP strategist
Mike Murphy
Michael James Murphy (born 20 October 1941) is an Irish broadcaster, actor and property developer. He is best known for his long broadcasting career with RTÉ, presenting many TV shows such as ''The Live Mike'', '' Winning Streak'' and '' The Bi ...
, and former
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. Bush, who grew up in Houston, was the second son of former President George H. W. Bush a ...
aide
Tim Miller.
Reception
The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' said the group was "waging guerrilla warfare within the GOP". ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' columnist
Jennifer Rubin called the pieces "some of the best pro-Biden ads".
See also
*
43 Alumni for Biden
*
Never Trump movement
The Never Trump movement, also called the #nevertrump, Stop Trump, anti-Trump, or Dump Trump movement, began as an effort on the part of a group of Republicans (known as Never Trump Republicans) and other prominent conservatives to prevent R ...
*
The Lincoln Project
The Lincoln Project is an American political action committee (PAC) formed in late 2019 by former and current moderate Republicans. During the 2020 presidential election, it aimed to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump and defeat all Rep ...
*
*
List of Republicans who opposed the 2016 Donald Trump presidential campaign
*
List of Republicans who opposed the Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign
*
List of Trump administration appointees who endorsed Joe Biden
This is a list of former officials who served during the Trump administration who endorsed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential campaign. Those who were appointed by Trump, rather than holdovers from the Obama administration or temporarily acting, ...
*
REPAIR
The technical meaning of maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, and residential installa ...
*
Right Side PAC
References
External links
*
* {{YouTube, channel=UC03-Q9vq-JyiStTnqasADVg
2020 United States presidential campaigns
Never Trump movement
Political campaign advertisements
Political organizations based in the United States