Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ) is urging lawmakers to sign a letter calling for either Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to drop out of the Republican presidential race.
According to Politico, the letter is asking lawmakers to either back Cruz or Rubio in the hopes that the remaining candidate could defeat Donald Trump. The letter, which was sent out Wednesday, is asking for one of the candidates to continue on into the race while the other can perhaps become vice president.
From Politico:
“We call upon all national security, free-market, and pro-family conservatives to boldly rally around the two of you together and ask you both to answer the call of statesmanship and decide between yourselves which shall be the candidate for President and which shall be the candidate for Vice President,” the letter says.
He argues that Trump is “incontrovertibly, the weakest general election candidate in the Republican field” and without a unified effort from GOP lawmakers, a Trump candidacy could catapult Democrat Hillary Clinton to the White House.
“Now is a time for choosing — for you, and for us,” the letter states. “The choice now in front of Republicans and conservatives alike is whether to allow our anger with the status quo to cause us to jump from the frying pan into the fire and cast our lots with a man who affirms he believes in many of the ideals we hold dear and trust that he, a self-proclaimed dealmaker and a man whose record is anything but conservative, will make no deals that will violate our deepest and most cherished principles.”