Former presidential candidate and Trump supporter Ben Carson urged conservatives in a commentary Thursday to fall in line behind the Republican nominee, rebuking the wing of conservatives who have said they will abstain from voting for either Trump or the Democratic nominee in November.
His commentary was published in The Hill Thursday morning before Trump heads to Capitol Hill to woo some of his doubters, including Speaker Paul Ryan, in person.
“It has been consistently claimed by many that this could be the most important and consequential election of our lifetime,” Carson wrote, citing the empty Supreme Court seat left by the death of late Justice Antonin Scalia in February. “We the people must turn off the entertainment long enough to concentrate on the implications of this vote.”
Several prominent Republicans have said either that they will not vote for any candidate for president or that they are undecided on whether they will support Trump. Most powerful among them is Ryan, who said last week that he was “not there” yet in terms of supporting the presumptive nominee. Others, including Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and former candidates Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham, have said they will not vote for either Trump or the Democratic nominee on Election Day.
Carson, in his commentary, suggested that view was short-sighted.
“Conservatives are often deceived by those who try to convince them that standing on principle is what distinguishes them as upstanding human beings,” Carson wrote. “The same conservatives fail to realize that when they don’t vote, they are in essence voting for the other side.”
Conservatives, he added, are still united by by a distinct philosophy, and owe it to the country’s future to support Trump.
“There are always consequences for our actions, but this time, the results of our voting will reach far beyond our own lifetimes,” he wrote. “It is time for us to think about our patriotic ancestors who sacrificed much, in many cases even their lives, to provide opportunities that we now enjoy. It is our turn to be responsible.”
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