VALDOSTA, Ga. — On the eve of the Super Tuesday primaries, a sharp new divide erupted between Republicans who pledge to fall in line behind Donald Trump if he wins their party’s nomination and others who insist they can never back the bombastic billionaire.
The fissure could have major implications beyond the primaries, exposing the looming challenges in uniting the party after the election, no matter who wins.
Nebraska’s Ben Sasse, a rising star among conservatives, became the first current senator to raise publicly the prospect of backing a third-party option if Trump clinches the nomination. In a letter on Face book, Sasse urged Republicans to consider whether a party led by Trump would represent their interests. “If our party is no longer working for the things we believe in — like defending the sanctity of life, stopping Obamacare, protecting the Second Amendment, etc. — then people of good conscience should stop supporting that party until it is reformed,” he wrote.
The Associated Press asked Republican senators and governors across the country whether they would support Trump if he was the nominee. Just under half of those who responded would not commit to backing him, foreshadowing a potential break.
“I have serious concerns about his ability to win the general election and provide presidential leadership,” Indiana Sen. Dan Coats told The Associated Press.
The concern among Republican leaders appeared to grow in light of Trump’s initial refusal to disavow former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke’s support.
Mitt Romney, the party’s 2012 nominee, called that “disqualifying.” South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, campaigning in Atlanta alongside Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, said she would “not stop fighting a man who refuses to disavow the KKK.”
Trump said he had not understood the interviewer who first raised the question about Duke, and he did later repudiate him.
If Trump sweeps most of the states up for grabs Tuesday, he could amass a delegate lead that would be difficult for any rival to overcome. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is banking on a win in his home state to keep him in the race, while Rubio wants to stay close in the delegate count until the primary hits his home state, Florida, on March 15.
Meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is solidifying her lead. She could begin putting her party’s nomination out of reach for rival Bernie Sanders with a strong showing Tuesday.
