Republican Accountability (RA), formerly Republican Accountability Project (RAP) and, for the 2024 presidential election, Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT), is a political initiative launched in May 2020 by

Defending Democracy Together Republicans for the Rule of Law is the principal initiative of the Conservatism in the United States, conservative, anti-Donald Trump political group Defending Democracy Together, founded by Bill Kristol, Mona Charen, Linda Chavez, Sarah Longwell, ...

for the 2020 U.S. presidential election cycle. The project was formed to produce a US$10 million advertising campaign focused on 100 testimonials by Republicans,

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

, moderates, right-leaning

independent voter An independent voter, often also called an unaffiliated voter or non-affiliated voter in the United States, is a voter who does not align themselves with a political party. An independent is variously defined as a voter who votes for candidate ...

s, and former Trump voters explaining why they would not vote for Donald Trump in 2020. By August 2020, they had collected 500 testimonials. 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 On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months after his defea ...

. The organization purchased ad campaigns to criticize members of the Republican Party, particularly those allegedly involved in the

January 6 United States Capitol attack On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of supporters of Donald Trump, President Donald Trump in an attempted self-coup,Multiple sources: * * * * * * * * * * * * * two months afte ...

Strategy

During the 2020 presidential campaign

The advertising campaign targets white college-educated suburban voters in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Paul Waldman, writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' compared the campaign to a similar 1964

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

ad called " Confessions of a Republican" giving Republicans "permission" to vote against

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

in the 1964 presidential election. Ad space purchased on social media and

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

was scheduled to start the first week of June 2020. An ad produced by RVAT featuring Trump's descriptions of the coronavirus pandemic was planned to air during the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

in Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida and Pennsylvania.

After the 2020 presidential election

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. 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. 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. They credited 6% of Republicans as consistently supporting democracy, with many of those retiring or losing their seats.

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." 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." In September, Olivia Troye, former homeland security and counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Pence and aide to the

White House Coronavirus Task Force The White House Coronavirus Task Force was the United States Department of State task force during the Trump administration. The goal of the Task Force was to coordinate and oversee the administration's efforts to monitor, prevent, contain, and ...

filmed an ad endorsing Biden.

Ads featuring other high-profile individuals

In October 2020 former CIA director and retired General Michael Hayden made an ad for the group. In October former GOP congressman

Jim Kolbe James Thomas Kolbe (June 28, 1942 – December 3, 2022) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Arizona's 5th congressional district from 1985 to 2003 and its 8 ...

also made an advertisement.

Leadership

Organizers included Republican political strategist Sarah Longwell, conservative writer

Bill Kristol William Kristol (; born December 23, 1952) is an American neoconservative writer. A frequent commentator on several networks including CNN, he was the founder and editor-at-large of the political magazine ''The Weekly Standard''. Kristol is edi ...

, GOP strategist Mike Murphy, and former

Jeb Bush John Ellis "Jeb" Bush (born February 11, 1953) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 43rd governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. A member of the Bush family, Bush political family, he was an unsuccessful candidate for pre ...

aide Tim Miller. The PAC receives funding from several prominent megadonors including

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

cofounder

Reid Hoffman Reid Garrett Hoffman (born August 5, 1967) is an American internet entrepreneur, venture capitalist, podcaster, and author. Hoffman is the co-founder and former executive chairman of LinkedIn, a business-oriented social network used primarily ...

, investor

John Pritzker John A. Pritzker (born 1953) is an American billionaire and investor. He is a member of the Pritzker family, the grandson of A.N. Pritzker and son of Jay Pritzker. Early life and education Pritzker was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Mari ...

and hedge fund manager

Seth Klarman Seth Andrew Klarman (born May 21, 1957) is an American billionaire investor, hedge fund manager, and author. He is a proponent of value investing. He is the chief executive and portfolio manager of the Baupost Group, a Boston-based private in ...

Reception

The ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' said the group was "waging guerrilla warfare within the GOP". ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' columnist Jennifer Rubin called the pieces "some of the best pro-Biden ads".

References

External links

* {{Never Trump movement 2020 United States presidential campaigns 2024 United States presidential campaigns Never Trump movement Political campaign advertisements Political organizations based in the United States Centrism in the United States Crossover voting