A Colorado talk radio host, who got lots of backslaps from alienated Republicans when she announced she left the Republican Party earlier this month, is now saying she would “probably” vote for Trump if he’s the GOP nominee.
“As much as I hold conservative ideals and values in many, many ways. I will not be a part of the cult of Trump anymore,” Mandy Connell said on her KOA radio show March 13. “I don’t want people to say, ‘Why is your party doing this?’ I don’t want people to look at me and say, ‘What is wrong with your party?’ It’s not my party. It’s the party of Donald Trump in Colorado. And I don’t know if you realize this, Donald Trump is not popular in Colorado.”
Citing Connell, Denver Post columnist Krista Kafer wrote, “Some Republicans have determined that there is no place for the sane [in Colorado’s Republican Party], and they do not want to be associated with the lunatic fringe.”
Connell made her announcement two days after Colorado Republicans elected former state Rep.Dave Williams, a pro-Trump election denier, as their new party Chair.
But it turns out Trump doesn’t bother Connell all that much because she’d “probably” vote for Trump if he’s the nominee — because she hates Democrats so much.
“I don’t want to have to make that choice,” Connell told KHOW talk radio host Dan Caplis March 15 when asked if she’d vote for Trump if the former president got the GOP nomination.
“Would you hold your nose and vote for Trump?” asked Caplis.
“When the rubber meets the road, I probably will,” she replied.
“I don’t want to have to choose ointment or suppositories once again. Okay,” said Connell.
In an email exchange with this reporter, Connell declined to tell the Colorado Times Recorder why she’d leave the Republican Party over its cult-like devotion to Trump and yet vote for Trump if he’s the nominee.
“I don’t understand why you’d leave the GOP when you’d still ‘probably’ vote for Trump if he were the nominee,” I asked Connell. “Why not work from within the party to change it, if you’re so unhappy about the Democrats? You left due to [the election as Colorado GOP leader of election denier] Dave Williams? Is he not pretty much the same as Trump? Do you think Williams is worse?”
“I appreciate the questions but I’m done talking about this,” Connell replied. “I didn’t do it to generate publicity and am tired of talking about it.”
“I appreciate the response,” I responded by email, “but why are you done talking about this? It might be the single most important topic of our time. Why would you cut off discussion of it?”
“Because I didn’t do it to become the poster child for disgruntled Republicans,” replied Connell. It was a personal decision I made public only because it’s important for my listeners to know where I’m coming from when I talk politics. I honestly didn’t know it would blow up like this. I’d rather talk about policy and solutions frankly.”
“Thank you again for responding,” I emailed back. “I understand that you didn’t want it to blow up, but it did. So I think it’s strange to bow out now, honestly, after you’ve said that you’d probably vote for Trump. That’s a provocative statement to my ears. :)”
