Former Republican officials raise the possibility of forming a “ center-right ” party

Despite the visceral presentation by House impeachment officials during Trump’s Senate impeachment trial this week, Republican senators signaled they would vote to acquit Trump, arguing Democrats had not argued that Trump’s words led to the violent actions in January and the trial is unconstitutional since Trump is a former president.

Dent told CNN on Thursday that Trump would likely be acquitted and “will not be held to account,” and that he will then attempt to dismantle Senate Republicans who vote to convict him and the 10 GOP House members. who voted to remove him.

“This is what I’m most afraid of now, that Trump will feel justified. He will feel like he’s been exonerated,” Dent said, adding that he thinks Trump will try to hold back those who voted. against him “for responsible in his own pervert. way.”

Dent told CNN that Republicans like him believe in rallying with GOP representatives. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Fred Upton of Michigan, and GOP Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, “who stood up for truth, principle and want a clean break and want this holiday to be different . “

“What we want is that we don’t want to hold on to the past, to hold on to a man who is dishonored in any way, shape or form. We don’t want to follow this man who hasn’t. brought that defeat and misery and insurrection, ”Dent said.“ Let’s go forward, not back. ”

Anthony Scaramucci, who made a very brief stint as White House communications director under Trump, also confirmed he was also part of discussions with other former Republican officials to form a “center-right party. “.

“I think what has happened in the last three or four days has fortified a very large group of people” who believe that if Senate Republicans do not condemn Trump that “the party is going to split in two” for that it is “diluted and completely weakened,” Scaramucci told CNN’s Cuomo.

Scaramucci predicted that Trump would be acquitted in his Senate trial and that 5-20% of the GOP would split up and create a new party.

“It will be a center-right party that will cooperate with the Democrats and it will liquidate the absurdities of the far right,” Scaramucci said.

Evan McMullin, a former House GOP assistant and current executive director of Stand Up Republic, confirmed to CNN that he hosted the virtual meeting and argued that “there is a need for something new, that this either in the Republican Party or outside it. ”

“The current party leadership is destructive, both for its own interests, but above all for the interests of the country,” he told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield on Sunday, adding: “As extreme as some members of Congress are On the Republican side, as the party deals with these related issues, there is also an opportunity for renewal and rebirth, and that’s what we’ve been talking about.

He said if a new faction is formed, it will field its own Republican candidates and even, in some cases, support Democratic candidates for election.

McMullin, who ran for independent president in 2016, acknowledged that the Republican Party was still largely under Trump’s control.

“What we want is a new direction for the party, and we are trying to unite people who are committed to our core values, to democracy and to who want it, regardless of who they have supported in the past. , and the fact that our numbers are increasing is the most exciting thing about it, ”he said.