GOP Senator Says He Won’t Support Trump’s Bid for 2024, Says ‘Where Do I Begin?’ When Asked to Explain Why
Senator Todd Young (R-IN) said he would not support former president Donald Trump’s third consecutive bid for the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday after Trump’s televised townhall event on Wednesday evening.
“I don’t intend to support him for the Republican nomination,” Young told reporters. Asked by CNN’s Manu Raju why he would not be backing the prohibitive favorite for the nomination, Young responded “Where do I begin?”
Young was the only member of Indiana’s Republican congressional delegation not to receive an endorsement from Trump during the 2022 midterms . On January 6, 2021, Young voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election against Trump’s wishes and explained why in a passionate conversation with Trump supporters near the Capitol Building that morning.
“When it comes to the law, our opinions don’t matter — the law matters,” said Young at the time. “I took an oath under God, under God! Do we still take that seriously in this country?”
Republican senators are being swarmed by Trump protesters on the Hill. Here’s an exasperated @SenToddYoung saying he won’t vote against certifying the election.
“I took oath under God… does that still matter in this country?” pic.twitter.com/9nQEbt9Okl
— Rebecca Tan (@rebtanhs) January 6, 2021
Young blamed the events of that afternoon on “a failure for many of our leaders to be truthful to the American people about what precisely has happened in our elections in recent months” before confirming that he was referring to Trump.
On Tuesday, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s. During Wednesday’s townhall event, the former president mocked Carroll, doubled down his claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him, and called moderator Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person.”
Trump remains the prohibitive favorite for the Republican nomination, and has already secured the support of a number of Young’s colleagues, including Lindsey Graham (R-SC), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and Young’s fellow Hoosier Mike Braun.
Watch above via CNN.
