June 19, 2020 - 10:17 AM
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Republicans on Friday censured a former party head who has drawn scorn for campaigning against Donald Trump's reelection and asking GOP voters to pick Democrat Joe Biden.
“I get that there’s folks who are mad at me now, but when they look back at all this, they’ll just be mad at themselves,” Matt Borges said. "The party, and the people in it, are too good to have their standard-bearer be Donald Trump, who is so bad.” He said the censure would not stop him from trying to prevent Trump from winning a second term.
A resolution to strip Borges of his title of emeritus chairman cited additional reasons, including previous Federal Election Commission violations and his promotion of a measure to legalize marijuana. But it is Borges' leadership of the Right Side PAC that has most rankled the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee.
Through Right Side, Borges is appealing for Republicans to vote for former Vice-President Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, over the GOP incumbent in November's election.
The state central committee's resolution “formally disassociates itself from" Borges “on account of Mr. Borges’ misconduct and pattern of using his former status as Ohio Republican Chairman to advocate for proposals which had not been endorsed" by the committee.
Borges said that for Republicans like him who view Trump "as an existential threat to the country and to the party, these are the voters that we're going to talk to and try to convince that they can feel good about a vote for Joe Biden in the fall.”
News from © The Associated Press, 2020