Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) has revealed (through a spokesperson) that he is not in support of the re-election of President Donald Trump. Baker seems like one of the most high-ranking Republican officials currently in power to come out against the president; other opposition from prominent Republicans has come from folks not currently in a government position, like a slew of former Trump administration officials. The statement from Baker’s spokesperson did not note who the governor would be supporting instead of Trump, but there’s a sizable movement of Republicans associated with groups like The Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump who are supporting Biden.
Baker’s communications director Lizzy Guyton said:
‘The governor cannot support Donald Trump for president and is focused on seeing Massachusetts through the pandemic. He’ll leave the election analysis to the pundits.’
Those brief two sentences are the entirety of the statement from the governor’s spokesperson. Check out the statement in full below:
#BREAKING: @MassGovernor releases statement saying “he “cannot support Donald Trump for President” #wcvb pic.twitter.com/SPV2MY0ykh
— Sharman Sacchetti (@SharmanTV) October 14, 2020
This occasion is not the first time that Baker has expressed opposition to the Trump-led main wing of the Republican Party. Recently, he (along with Vermont’s Republican Governor Phil Scott) released a statement opposing the Senate GOP’s rush to confirm Trump Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett before Election Day. In 2016, Senate Republicans refused to hold hearings for then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland, and they cited the imminent presidential election as an excuse. Now, the Republicans claim that since the Senate and White House are controlled by the same political party, the GOP supposedly has enough of a mandate from the voters to move forward. Barrett’s confirmation hearings got going this week.
Across the country, there are many voters ready to stand up to Trump. At least 3.7 million Democrats have already voted across the U.S., and as of Wednesday evening, FiveThirtyEight gives Joe Biden an about 87 percent chance of winning the election. Baker’s own state is heavily Democratic-leaning when it comes to the presidential race — an Emerson College survey from August had Biden up in Massachusetts by 39 percent.
