Officials of Log Cabin Republicans resign over Trump endorsement
While the Log Cabin Republicans have finally gotten their acknowledgement of endorsing President Donald Trump for 2020, some of their leaders are quitting over it.
One example is the former president of their DC chapter, Robert Turner. Another is Jennifer Horn, a member of the group’s national board.
What’s more, other Republican personalities are criticizing the move, like Jordan Evans, the only transgender Republican elected official.
Log Cabin Republicans get Trump’s recognition
Ironically, this wasn’t the first time that LGBTQ Republicans found themselves divided by their choices.
Prior to the 2016 elections, the Log Cabin Republicans had refused to support Trump despite calling him “the most pro-LGBT presidential nominee in the history of the Republican Party.”
Now that the Log Cabin Republicans are supporting Trump for his re-election campaign, it took a while for him to acknowledge this endorsement.
At first, the only acknowledgement the Trump campaign gave was a general one: “President Trump’s policies are working for all Americans, and this is more proof that the American people recognize his successes.”
But later on, Trump cited the group in a response to a question by Washington Blade reporter Chris Johnson: “I just got an award and an endorsement yesterday from the Log Cabin group, and I was very honored to receive it.”
“I’ve done very well with that community. Some of my biggest supporters are of that community and I talk to them a lot about it,” Trump said, citing LGBTQ supporters like PayPal founder Peter Thiel.
Log Cabin Republicans face division over their choice
With the top officials of Log Cabin Republicans endorsing Trump in an op-ed piece in Washington Post, some of its officials are making their disappointments known.
One was Turner, who was reported by the Washington Blade as having left the group.
In a Facebook post, Turner wrote: “There’s no more fight left. The national board’s endorsement of Trump, and their subsequent and hollow WaPo op-ed, is a step too far. And this leaves me sad.”
Another who recently quit was Horn, who said: “There is no world where I can sit down at the dining room table and explain to my children that I just endorsed Donald Trump for president.”
“It is contrary to everything that I have ever taught them about what it means to be a good, decent, principled member of society,” Horn said, according to the Washington Post.
Republicans unsettled with Trump endorsement
Horn had written a letter to Log Cabin Republicans Robert Kabel and vice-chair Jill Homan citing Trump’s “regular verbal assaults against women, migrants, elected members of Congress, party members who do not agree with him on policy or principle.”
Horn further warned the leadership of Trump’s “willingness to stoke racial anger and unrest in order to advance his own political ambitions all subvert the founding principles of our great nation.”
Kabel and Homan were the two that had specifically endorsed Trump in the op-ed piece, praising the President for his “bold actions that benefit the LGBTQ community.”
Another who has expressed dissatisfaction over the endorsement was Evans, who wrote an op-ed piece in The Advocate.
Evans said: “It seems that the ‘premier Republican organization for LGBTQ+ conservatives’ couldn’t care less about which form of acceptance qualifies as passable allyship and would instead willfully embrace an administration notorious for hollow words, fairweather friends, and a seemingly endless number of cuts for us to endure.”