In 2019, former members of the Republican Party founded The Lincoln Project, a political action committee (PAC) to attack Donald Trump, after deeming that he "replaced conservatism with an empty faith led by a bogus prophet." The founders of this movement rejected the former president to such an extent that they endorsed Joe Biden's candidacy in the 2020 presidential elections.
Now, The Lincoln Project is experiencing a clash amongst its founders. Showtime is broadcasting The Lincoln Project, a five-episode docuseries detailing the economic networks within the organization. After the series premiere, one of the founders and former member, Steve Schmidt, lashed out on Twitter against the organization for its "despicable" behaviors and lack of ethics:
.@ProjectLincoln should either be professionalized and reformed or shut down. I founded it. i left it a year ago. The @Showtime documentary documents some of the most despicable and unethical behavior I have ever seen.
- Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) October 12, 2022
Schmidt claimed that the directors and founders of The Lincoln Project "were only seeking fame and money through lies." When Schmidt announced his departure from The Lincoln Project, another of the founders, Reed Galen, took over the board of the anti-Trump organization. With Galen at the helm, Schmidt claims there is a lack of transparency that serves as a "tool to enrich and protect [the] founders and keep the money flowing from Trump-hating donors."
"Everything Trump touches dies"
Separately, Schmidt said Rick Wilson, another of the founders, raised $65,000 on GoFundMe to make an anti-Trump film to be called Everything Trump Touches Dies, which was set for release in January 2018. After months of waiting, the film never aired and Schmidt became suspicious of Wilson's intentions:
8/ the @ProjectLincoln. Before the organization started @TheRickWilson set up a GO Fund me to make a movie 🎥 about Trump. He raised tens of thousands of dollars 💵 and never made the movie. I asked him about it 500 times. No movie. I was not comfortable with this. It is a big
- Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) October 12, 2022
Schmidt added that Wilson should return all the money raised to film the movie back to donors:
9/ deal. Ethics matter. Integrity matters. I urge @TheRickWilson to find a way to return that money and make this right. No one is perfect and Rick has a lot going on. I have never met anyone who works harder. He has to fix this. I hope the donors to @ProjectLincoln will demand
- Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) October 12, 2022
Never Trump movement
This is not the first time that a few Republicans have tried to take a stand against Donald Trump. In 2016, Never Trump was created, a movement rejecting Trump as a candidate for president in 2016. In the end, the efforts were made in vain: Trump won the Republican Party primary over Mitt Romney and also won the presidential election.
It was Alex Castellanos and Katie Packer, former Romney advisors, who began attacking Trump after his primary victory. Packer created Our Principles PAC, a political action committee that aimed to smear the former president through negative advertisements. Other GOP members who joined the movement included Mitt Romney, George Will, Paul Singer, Jonah Goldberg, Phil Klein, Erick Erickson, Lachlan Markay, Kendal Unruh and Rick Wilson.
