A Republican fundraising strategist has revealed that he is leaving the party, saying he has finally had enough of its appeasement of Donald Trump.
Miles Bruner, a former senior fundraising strategist for the Republican digital fundraising firm Campaign Solutions, wrote an essay for The Bulwark explaining why he is quitting the party and urged others to do the same to save the future of the country.
“Since Donald Trump descended that golden escalator in 2015, the Republican Party has devolved into a cult of personality that mirrors the worst authoritarian regimes of the last. 100 years,” Bruner wrote.
“For 10 years, the GOP has waged an unrelenting war on our civic institutions, the separation of powers, the foundation of the rule of law, and the very nature of truth itself. While Trump and his supporters in Congress have been the driving force behind the right’s descent into despotism, it would not have been possible without the thousands of consultants, aides, and politicos working behind the scenes to fully execute their systematic dismantling of American democratic norms.”
Bruner said that much of his job at Campaign Solutions revolved around drafting fundraising emails designed to “out-MAGA the previous.”
“It was routine to publish content that pushed election fraud conspiracies, stoked anti-immigrant sentiment, and sowed distrust in our institutions,” he wrote.
He described becoming disillusioned while working as a political coordinator for moderate California State Senator Janet Nguyen. Bruner said he tried desperately to distance Nguyen from Trump during the 2016 campaign and hoped that Trump’s “very fine people” response to the deadly far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 would provide the perfect opportunity to break away.
However, Nguyen was reportedly unhappy with a statement her team released describing Heather Heyer—the woman struck and killed by a white supremacist during a demonstration opposing the neo-Nazis—as an American hero after she received backlash from Trump’s MAGA base.
“The staff stressed to her that Heyer had indeed been killed by a terrorist for protesting Nazis in her city. But that didn’t matter; the text was changed, and any further condemnations of Trump or alt-right activities occurring in our district would stop,” Bruner wrote. “It was the first time I should have drawn the line and said I quit. But, again, I stayed.”
Bruner said that throughout his time in the GOP, he “rationalized, compartmentalized, and found excuses to stay tethered to the party,” despite his deep concerns about Trump being the de facto leader of the GOP.
He said that what “finally broke” was the “rightward lurch” of the Supreme Court during the Trump years and “the lengths to which the right was willing to go to undermine established legal precedents and access to reproductive rights.”
Bruner added that having a baby delayed his final decision to quit his job and the party, but he has now officially cut ties as Trump’s second term enters its 10th month.
His essay concludes with a plea for others to follow his lead, even if they fear how it might affect their careers or personal lives.
“I know the thought of walking away from your career and your familiar social network is terrifying. I urge you to recognize that our nation is heading down a very dark path. But it’s not too late to change direction,” he wrote.
“If you believe in this country, now is the time to refuse to ferry its destruction for a tainted livelihood. Take a stand. Speak out. Show your pride as an American who believes in the Constitution and the values we grew up with.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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