GOP Sen. Todd Young won’t vote for Trump and pines for a ‘principled’ conservative – Washington Examiner

Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) is holding firm on his commitment to not support former President Donald Trump in the November election as he locks up the Republican nomination

Young split from the former president after he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, though he voted against impeachment. He pledged not to vote for Trump again in 2023 over his conciliatory tone toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine and has remained undeterred by the wave of endorsements from his GOP colleagues.

“I won’t be voting for Biden. I also won’t be voting for Trump,” Young said in an interview on Monday. “So, does that mean I leave it blank? Does that mean I identify another conservative who’s almost certain not to be the next president of the United States and write them in? I haven’t decided that, and I think that’s a largely unimportant point. I don’t know who goes in that line, if anyone.” 

Young said it was fair for people to ask if abstaining from casting a vote in November would “reward one person at the expense of the other,” adding, “My response is, at some point, principled conservatives need to incentivize our party, the Republican Party, to nominate somebody that principled conservatives can actually believe in.”

“Stated differently, I’m tired of having my vote taken for granted,” he explained. “I think a lot of Hoosiers are.”

Young and his colleagues who don’t support Trump have faced increasing questions about their respective plans for November as the former president became their party’s nominee. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence, who fell out with the former president after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and his subsequent refusal to walk back his stolen election claims, said on Friday that he could not “in good conscience” support his former running mate.

“Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence said. “That’s why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”

Young referenced Pence specifically, noting that the two were not the only ones who objected to Trump as their nominee. He also said he was fine with him and Pence, a fellow Hoosier, holding the minority view of their party. 

“Mike Pence over the weekend made known his view,” he said. “You continue to hear a couple of my colleagues in the Senate make known that they hold a similar viewpoint.”

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“It wouldn’t surprise me if others made their voices heard,” he added. “Understandably, people are reluctant to do so because of concerns about how that will be received. But again, it’s not particularly important to me that others join me in this.”

The Senate GOP conference has many centrist and establishment Republicans known for their bipartisan deal-making. Several of Trump’s GOP skeptics, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) included, were able to develop decent working relationships with the former president while in office, though a number of those have since deteriorated. McConnell has since endorsed Trump for president.

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