In a live chat with soccer star Megan Rapinoe on April 30, Joe Biden declared he’s been speaking to a lot of Republicans who say they want to help him win.
“Matter of fact, there’s some major Republicans who are already forming ‘Republicans for Biden,’” the former vice president said. “Major officeholders.”
Now several prominent Republicans say the NeverTrump Republican movement is loosely defined, but preliminary talks about messaging and rollout are forming. There is an impression that there would be a Republican inside the campaign itself, as well as outside influencers.
When presented with Biden’s comments, GOP sources interviewed referenced two main possibilities: an external group that would work on his behalf as a political action committee—similar to other Democratic-led outside groups—that could theoretically clear a pathway for others to join; or an internal operation within Biden’s campaign, with one or more recognizable Republican figures joining as the public face.
Among several names that came up who could theoretically have a role were former Sen. Jeff Flake, political analyst Charlie Sykes, conservative media giant Bill Kristol, former RNC Chairman Michael Steele, campaign operative Steve Schmidt, and columnist Mona Charen. Former Ohio Governor John Kasich, now also a CNN analyst, was also named, although the Kasich camp has denied any discussions.
“It’s done, but the reason it’s not common is there are few people willing to do that,” longtime Democratic campaign strategist Joe Trippi said about the possibility of a Republican joining a Democrat’s campaign in this capacity, or vice versa. “It’s not rare on the Biden campaign’s part. You just don’t usually have that many prominent people usually willing to cross lines in the middle of a presidential campaign.”
You can read the complete story at The Daily Beast.