POLITICS
GOP Discord Once Again Has Trump At Its Center
February 3,
20215:00 AM ET
BARBARA
SPRUNT
CLAUDIA
GRISALES
The House Republican
Conference will meet in person on Wednesday and is expected to discuss the
fates of Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, two
Republicans with drastically different loyalties to former President Donald
Trump.
It's a stark
reminder of Trump's continual hold on his party, even after many congressional
Republicans condemned his behavior ahead of and during the insurrection at the
U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Trump's
actions that day earned him another rebuke from the House, the second time in
history a president has been impeached twice. Ten House Republicans voted
alongside Democrats to impeach him.
One of them
was the No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Cheney, who said in a statement ahead of
the vote: "There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the
United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution."
But
backlash against her was swift, with many in her party calling for her removal
from leadership.
Trump
loyalist Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., even went to Cheney's home state and urged
her constituents to vote her out.
And while
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has expressed support for Cheney, he also
told Greta Van Susteren he has "concerns" over her impeachment vote.
"I do
think she has a lot of questions she has to answer to the conference," he
said in an interview on Jan. 24.
Meanwhile,
McCarthy is also under pressure to take action against Georgia Rep. Marjorie
Taylor Greene, who has long embraced conspiracy theories and has a history of
being racist and anti-Semitic.
Democrats
have pushed for her to be censured and have introduced a resolution to remove
her from her committee assignments. In a short statement Monday that didn't
directly cite Greene by name, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.,
called "looney lies and conspiracy theories" a "cancer for the
Republican Party."
Sen. Mitt
Romney, R-Utah., echoed that sentiment on Tuesday, telling Capitol Hill
reporters that Republicans "should have nothing to do with Marjorie Taylor
Greene."
"It's
important for us to separate ourselves from the people that are in the wacky
weeds, and if we don't, then our opposition tries to brand us with their image
and with their point of view," he said.
McCarthy
and Greene reportedly met on Tuesday evening, but no decision was announced.
How far
McCarthy will go on disciplining Greene is unknown and once again, Trump is at
the center of the political implications at play.
Greene has
closely linked herself to Trump, tweeting Saturday that she had a "great
call" with him.
"I'm
so grateful for his support and more importantly the people of this country are
absolutely 100% loyal to him because he is 100% loyal to the people and America
First," she wrote.
Trump's
backing of Greene, whom he once called a "future Republican star",
could make it difficult for McCarthy, who recently met with Trump at his resort
in Mar-a-Lago to discuss taking back the House in 2022, to mete out the robust
action that Democrats and some Republicans are calling for.
Greene is
featured in a new series of ads launched by the Democratic Congressional
Campaign Committee at various House Republicans who voted against Trump's
impeachment. The ad accuses the Republican lawmakers of standing "with Q,
not you", referencing the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory supported by
Greene.
House
Democrats have also introduced a resolution stripping Greene of her seats on
the House Education and Budget committees, an aggressive step attempting to
force McCarthy to act or face prospect of putting all his members on the record
in a full House vote potentially later this week.
What about
the upcoming Senate impeachment trial?
If there
was any momentum on the Senate GOP side to convict Trump, it was in the
immediate aftermath of the Capitol attack and it's since dwindled
significantly.
McConnell
hadn't indicated how he would vote after the trial, potentially giving cover to
members in his conference more inclined to vote to convict.
"My
interpretation of what happened with McConnell is that he very much would like
to turn the page and move on from Trump and left the door open quite
intentionally to see if there was the requisite amount of support to get rid of
him," says Brendan Buck, a Republican consultant who once advised former
House Speaker Paul Ryan.
But an
effort by Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul forced his colleagues to go on the record
over an element that many senators had said was weighing on their decision in
the upcoming trial: Whether it is constitutional to try someone no longer in
office.
The move
was the equivalent of sending up a test balloon to see how other members in his
conference would vote. Only five Republicans broke with their party to say such
a trial would be constitutional. Democrats would need 17 Republicans to join
them to convict Trump.
While some
Senators have argued their vote on Paul's motion doesn't necessarily equate to
their vote after the trial, the tea leaves seem clear: The Senate won't convict
Trump.
There are
certainly political calculations at play here as well. Trump's base is
obviously a devoutly loyal one and crossing the former president so resolutely
could bring with it an unwelcome political cost. Senators need only look at the
House infighting with Trump loyalists and conservatives like Cheney.
"[Lawmakers]
went out in their communities and they got an earful on their phones and emails
from people that was a reminder to them that voters love Trump still nd there
was no political upside to the crossing him," Buck said.
He thinks
Republicans will stick with Trump for the foreseeable future to win votes
during their primaries, even if it costs national influence.
"Republican
voters' infatuation with Donald Trump has not gone away and pure loyalty to him
and his cause will continue to be the most motivating factor for Republican
voters," Buck said. "And when Republican voters feel that way, it's
going to have an impact on senators and how they vote and how they talk and the
politics that they play."
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário