OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
In 2020, then-President Donald Trump was confronted by a small group of alleged Republicans who turned against him and their party via The Lincoln Project and actively supported his Democratic rival, Joe Biden.
This time around, another organization appears to have popped up out of nowhere to oppose him—”Republicans For Kamala.” But, according to a newly unearthed audio recording, that group may be a creation of Vice President Harris’ campaign.
We are Republicans.
We’re proud to support Kamala Harris because Donald Trump is dangerous, deranged, and weird.
And we’re sharing stories from Republicans across the country about why they support Kamala.
— Republicans for Harris (@RepsForHarris) August 10, 2024
On Friday, the Maine Wire, a local conservative publication, released undercover audio of a conversation between a “citizen journalist” and Peter Mills, the former executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority and the brother of Democratic Governor Janet Mills.
In a conversation with the undercover operative using the pseudonym “Tim Dillon,” Mills — a registered Democrat and a prominent figure in the group, as noted by the publication — expressed interest in joining it. Mills then directed him to Amy Cookson, a staffer on Kamala Harris’s campaign, the audio indicates.
The former Planned Parenthood operative had an email address that ended in “@kamalaharris.com.”
“I think she’s a paid worker,” Mills said. “I think that’s her job here is to find – she’s looking – she has an organization called ‘Republicans for Harris.'” He went on to say that she was “the main representative of that group.”
“I think it’s a national structure that’s being organized by, obviously, by the Harris campaign,” he said.
WATCH:
Oh, look. Seems “Republicans For Harris” is a scam set up by HER campaign to make it seem like scores of GOP voters are flocking to her.
Can you say “The Lincoln Project”?
h/t Maine Wire pic.twitter.com/jPFd0Tz7ZC
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) August 11, 2024
“They’re really, really, very anxious to find some Second District Republicans who can say, well, I’ve had enough of this Trump guy, and I’ll probably stay a Republican, but I can’t vote for him,” Mills continued, referencing people from the northern Maine congressional district.
“You know, words of that effect, it would be very influential,” he added.
Also, an email from Cookson noting media successes in the Maine market proved that “at least in Maine, the ‘Republicans for Harris’ group appears to be comprised of paid lobbyists, registered Democrats, and a Republican ex-politician known mostly for his criticisms of other Republicans.”
This included unaffiliated lobbyist Tony Payne and former state Sen. Roger Katz, who is a Republican but was a vocal critic of Maine’s former Republican governor, Paul LePage.
Referencing the report, a commentary in the Western Journal added some perspective:
Now, it’s not clear whether what Mills says is true, either in Maine or throughout the entire organization. It certainly seems that way from the evidence collected, however — and this Democrat insider seems to say that Republicans for Harris is, in effect, an astroturfed scam.
The only Republicans in it are those who have long since left the party’s mainstream, and they aren’t the motive organizing force. Which, say what you will about the Lincoln Project, but at least those people didn’t have email addresses ending in “@joebiden.com,” to the best of my knowledge. Not the case here.
Meanwhile, a side-by-side video posted to social media over the weekend appears to show Vice President Kamala Harris ‘adopting’ — some say stealing — one of former President Donald Trump’s top campaign pledges.
In the video, Trump is heard telling a crowd how he plans to push for an end to taxes on tips, an increasingly popular idea among service industry workers who rely heavily on them as part of their income. After Trump’s pitch, Harris then essentially repeats the same claim.
WATCH:
— James Blair (@JamesBlairUSA) August 11, 2024
