Republican Voters Against Trump Republican Accountability Project
Republican Accountability (RA), formerly Republican Accountability Project (RAP) and Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), is a political initiative launched in May 2020 by Defending Democracy Together for the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle.[1][2] The project was formed to produce a US$10 million advertising campaign focused on 100 testimonials by Republicans, conservatives, moderates, right-leaning independent voters, and former Trump voters explaining why they would not vote for Donald Trump in 2020.[1][2][3] By August 2020, they had collected 500 testimonials.[4]
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.[5] The organization has purchased ad campaigns to criticize members of the Republican Party, particularly those allegedly involved in the January 6 incident.
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.[9] After the 2021 storming of the US Capitol, RVAT transitioned to RAP, 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.[10] 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.[10][9] They credited 6% of Republicans as consistently supporting democracy, with many of those retiring or losing their seats.[11]
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."[12] Later that month another former Homeland Security staffer from the Trump administration, Elizabeth Neumann, made an ad in which she endorsed Biden and called Trump "racist" and "a threat to America."[13][14][15] In September, Olivia Troye, former homeland security and counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Pence and aide to the White House Coronavirus Task Force filmed an ad endorsing Biden.[16][17][18]
Organizers included Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, conservative writer Bill Kristol, GOP strategist Mike Murphy, and former Jeb Bush aide Tim Miller.[2][21]
The PAC receives funding from several prominent megadonors including LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, investor John Pritzker and hedge fund manager Seth Klarman.[22]
Reception
The Philadelphia Inquirer said the group was "waging guerrilla warfare within the GOP".[23]Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin called the pieces "some of the best pro-Biden ads".[24]
^Levitsky, Steven; Ziblatt, Daniel (2023). Tyranny of the minority: why American democracy reached the breaking point (First ed.). New York: Crown. pp. 130–132. ISBN978-0-593-44307-1.
^"About Us". Republican Voters Against Trump. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
^"Here Are The Billionaires Backing This Anti-Trump Republican Campaignhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/03/12/here-are-the-billionaires-backing-this-anti-trump-republican-campaign/?sh=ba521722c59ewebsite=Forbes". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)