It would appear not all Republicans are blinded by solidarity and loyalty. A Republican candidate in Minnesota dropped out of the gubernatorial race, citing two major reasons.
In a video posted on X, the candidate Chris Madel began by establishing that he was “born and raised” in Minnesota, explaining the reasons why he decided to run for governor. He then noted that in the two months since he had announced his candidacy, he and his team had accomplished so much, and he was grateful to them. However, he was ending his campaign. “Number one, I cannot support the national Republican’s stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so,” he said.
Madel shared that he supports the initial goal of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to find and deport individuals who constitute a nuisance to the state, like “murder, rape, and sexual assault.” And while he had witnessed several such people taken off the streets, the sad reality now was that ICE was turning its attention to American citizens who were people of color. “Driving while Hispanic is not a crime, neither is driving while Asian,” he said as he highlighted more issues caused by ICE. “At the end of the day, I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them I believe I did what was right. And I am doing that today,” he stated. The conservative added that his second reason was that it was obvious that the “National republicans have made it nearly impossible for a republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota.” He then went on to state the areas that he believed the President had so well that people had conveniently ignored.
Netizens stormed the comments with their reactions. “Disagree with you on 70% of the issues, but you’re clearly a principled conservative that actually holds the conservative values,” one praised. “Good for him. We need all honorable Republicans to stand up. No more racist Trumplicans. I call on all honorable Republicans who reject this government to follow this example and stand up,” another added.
“We need fewer people toeing the party line and more people speaking their mind. The game of politics needs to change. It can start from the top,” someone encouraged. “God bless you, sir. I respect your decency and honesty. I wish you all good in your life,” a user wrote. “Took a lot of guts to make this video, and I’m glad you did. I hope others hear it,” another added. “Holy [expletive], a conservative who isn’t completely morally bankrupt. I must be dreaming,” one user wrote.
Still, a couple of users were not interested in the reasons Madel had given.
“He is dropping out because he doesn’t think he can win. The political winds are blowing hard against the GOP. End of story,” one wrote. “He couldn’t win in Minnesota while being the lawyer for the ICE agent who murdered Renee Good. Any other reason he stated for dropping out is BS,” another echoed. A last one wrote, “Unless he’s also ‘dropping out’ as counsel for Jonathan Ross, this is performative and political calculus.”
