Copyright inquisitr
A veteran Republican money man just slammed the door on the GOP and Donald Trump and told others to follow him out. In a column for The Bulwark, Miles Bruner, a senior fundraising strategist who spent the past five years at Republican digital powerhouse Campaign Solutions, announced, “I quit the Republican party and my job as an accomplice,” adding that he has “finally had enough.” Bruner’s break is not subtle as he said, “Since Donald Trump descended that golden escalator in 2015, the Republican Party has devolved into a cult of personality that mirrors the worst authoritarian regimes of the last one hundred years,” he wrote, arguing that the party he served has become “increasingly corrupt.” He says he watched the transformation from inside the machine and kept talking himself into staying. “At every step along the way, I rationalized, compartmentalized, and found excuses to stay tethered to the party, even as I grew to believe it was undermining the foundations of our constitutional republic,” he confessed. In the piece, Bruner makes a point of minimizing his own importance while turning the spotlight on a broader ecosystem that, in his view, sustained Trumpism. “My ego is not so large that I believe I played a significant role in putting Trump into office,” he wrote, then pivoted to a plea for others in his line of work “to follow their consciences and leave with their integrity still intact.” He acknowledges that his explanation will not wipe the slate clean. “I’m fully aware that any excuses at this point won’t justify why I stayed so long and will only sound like thin attempts at rationalization to alleviate my personal guilt. Maybe they are,” he wrote. “I know that the fact that I’ve finally taken action doesn’t on its own bring me absolution.” What is he looking for instead? An honest accounting, and a warning. Bruner says his aim is “to try to explain how it is that people who know better don’t act on that belief,” and “to illuminate how we justify our contributions to the degradation of our politics in real time.” He then directs a message at current GOP operatives who are wavering. “For those who remain and who harbor doubts about what the Republican Party has become, this is my message to you,” he wrote. “I know the thought of walking away from your career and your familiar social network is terrifying. I urge you to recognize that our nation is heading down a very dark path. But it’s not too late to change direction.” The call to action becomes blunt in his closing lines. “If you believe in this country, now is the time to refuse to ferry its destruction for a tainted livelihood. Take a stand. Speak out. Show your pride as an American who believes in the Constitution and the values we grew up with.” Coming from a strategist who spent years raising money for Republican candidates and committees, the renunciation lands as both confession and indictment. Public records identify him as a senior strategist at Campaign Solutions, a top-tier GOP digital fundraising firm, a role he says he held for over five years. The Bulwark framed the piece as an insider’s reckoning from a consultant class that helped power the party’s Trump era and now faces a moral crossroads as another election cycle looms.
