Denver
CNN
—
A few weeks ago, a group of strangers in a Denver bar sparked conversation and affability, brought together by a shared antipathy toward former President Donald Trump.
Many of them are Republicans or former Republicans who are finally able to speak openly about their political views and why they want to stop Trump from returning to the White House in what is expected to be a close election this fall.
Becky Hofer said it’s “hard to find community” in her “very Republican” home state of South Dakota. Hofer said she once considered herself a Republican, but the party has changed over the past decade. “It’s hard because every day I wake up and I talk to my neighbors and I know they’re supporting someone who doesn’t align with our values at all,” Hofer said. “They’re throwing away all their values to support one person, and for what? For a tax cut that we’re not really getting?”
CNN
Becky Hofer (right) told CNN’s Elle Reeve that she hopes her husband will also turn his back on Trump.
Hofer and hundreds of other attendees at the event, organized by The Bulwark, a media organization founded by former Republican activists and conservative writers who oppose Trump, spoke of their own political journeys and how many of them have been persuaded to cross party lines and support President Joe Biden.
“My political stance is I’m a former Republican. I’m now an independent, but I would say I’m leaning heavily toward voting for Biden or the Democrats, which is the only option,” Denver resident Paul Ivanci told CNN.
But then the debate began.
Biden’s dismal performance at the CNN event and Trump’s continued false claims have raised new concerns among these voters who already consider themselves “politically homeless.”
Will Ranzoni/CNN
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden debated at CNN’s Atlanta studios on June 27, 2024. Voters attending The Bulwark event in Denver were not impressed with either candidate.
“I’m very concerned about Joe Biden,” Hofer said. She had an instinctive reaction to his appearance because it reminded her of the early days of her mother’s dementia diagnosis. She sorted through her mother’s belongings and found small notes with important phone numbers and addresses tucked in her purse, napkin drawer and clothes, hiding the fact that her mother was losing her memory. “Joe Biden needs to be replaced. In my opinion, it’s elder abuse,” she said.
“The fact that the entire nation is sitting here watching people walking around in wheelchairs with an elderly politician like it’s ‘Bernie’s Weekend’ is disgusting…. Out of respect for his humanity, he should be replaced no matter what.”
Robin Hawkland enjoyed spending time with her fellow Bulwark listeners. “It’s a safe place, and I feel like I can voice my opinion,” she told CNN. “Some people may disagree with me, but we can have a rational discussion.”
CNN
Robin Hawkland said she was shocked by the debate and then angry.
“The next day, I was watching the news and I started to feel angry. I thought maybe they were hiding something from me,” she said.
She continued, “Everybody is watching it. Everyone I’ve spoken to. Everyone is concerned about it. More concerned than people who don’t want Trump to be elected.”
Hawkland, a health care worker, said she has already “fled” her home in her northern Georgia district because Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been “pretty violent towards people wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.” She and her husband, who voted for Trump in 2016, now live in the Republican “blue bubble” neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. When they got their new Utah driver’s licenses, they both registered as Democrats, she said.
But once again their world was turned upside down.
“Everybody who was a Republican is asking, ‘What? Why? I’m in the same bad situation with this party.'”
CNN
Paul Ivancie said he would consider voting for another Democrat if President Joe Biden was not the nominee.
Still, these voters did not feel any warmer toward Trump after the debate and may have become more wary of the possibility of him running for a second term after the Supreme Court ruled that former presidents have “some immunity from criminal prosecution” for acts committed in office.
“Donald Trump didn’t answer a single question. The Supreme Court’s decision is sickening,” Hofer said in his home state of South Dakota.
“I think it’s important that Donald Trump doesn’t win.”
Tim Miller, a former Jeb Bush spokesman and opposition polling expert who now hosts “The Bulwark Podcast,” agreed. After recording the episode in front of an audience, Miller told CNN he thinks the Biden team needs to appeal to voters who feel displaced by the Republican Party. “They’re going to need our supporters.”
That task has become even tougher after Biden’s debate performance, he said. “Unless Biden can significantly improve his performance and demonstrate that he is the right man for the job, he should step down.”
“The risks are too great not to explore all options,” added Sarah Longwell, a former Republican strategist and publisher of The Bulwark.
The Never Trump and Never Again Trump factions, who met in Denver, still have the same goal: to see someone other than Trump in the White House, but they’re now waiting to decide whether to vote for Biden or someone else.
“Whether Biden runs or not, his No. 1 priority is stopping Trump,” Ivansie said. “Even if Biden decides not to run, there are certainly capable people who could replace Trump, and I think they would be a powerful contrast to Trump.”
Hawkland said the debate following the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity has been “like a series of dominoes falling.”
“It’s hard not to feel hopeless,” she added. “It feels like we’re in a strange vortex that we can’t get out of.”
