The Republican Party allows Trump’s policy of violence

(Trends Wide) — The Republican Party is inching closer to the destination it has long been heading for under former President Donald Trump: the legitimization of violence as a form of political expression.

The Republican National Committee’s (RNC) censure of Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for probing the “legitimate political discourse” of the January 6 insurrection enshrined that principle in the party’s political dogma. Friday’s move exposed the unrestrained extremism of broad sections of one of America’s major political parties and the still-malignant and dominant influence of the former president, who is ready for action with a $122 million war fund. .

The RNC statement coincided with the release of a new Justice Department video showing the horrific truth of the insurrection: a Trump mob, drugged by his election lies, beating up police officers and vowing to drag lawmakers through the streets. But the RNC’s authoritarianism collided with some anti-Trump agitation elsewhere in the party, most notably from former Vice President Mike Pence, who criticized his former boss’s claim to steal the election by subverting the Electoral College count last year as “un-American.”

The potentially irrevocable break with Trump galvanized Republicans who despair at the party’s tearing apart of truth and democracy, and came amid whispers, perhaps wishful, among some strategists, that control by the former president could be weakening. These could be the first sprouts of an upcoming debate over whether Trump should be the party’s nominee for a third time, in 2024.

But Trump’s dark power is also showing up among a broader group: GOP lawmakers who despise his strongman radicalism but are afraid to speak out against him because they think loyalty is the only way to save their political skin. The acquiescence of most Republicans has long enabled Trump’s assaults on the rule of law and shows few signs of hardening opposition to the former president. And it was repeated last week when Republican senators dodged calls to condemn Trump’s threat to pardon insurgents if he wins a new term in the White House.

And a Republican win in November’s midterm elections could cement a House majority dominated by Trump’s minions and give his extremism a new boost heading into the 2024 presidential race.

A clear signal from the RNC to Trump

The RNC resolution condemned Cheney, of Wyoming, and Kinzinger, of Illinois, for engaging in “Democrat-led persecution” of ordinary citizens engaged in “legitimate political speech” as they are part of the commission. representative of the House of Representatives that investigates the events that occurred during and before the insurrection of January 6.

Following the passage of the measure, RNC President Ronna McDaniel insisted to Trends Wide that the committee drew a distinction between those who did not commit acts of violence on January 6 and the rioters who stormed the US Capitol. But the resolution, watered down from an earlier version that called for the party’s withdrawal of support from Cheney and Kinzinger, contained no such warning. The RNC may have a reputation as a haven for the party’s most dedicated activists and may not fully represent it. But the symbolism of the entire exercise defied the spin that sought to contain the political damage and sent an unequivocal endorsement of Trump over his staunch denial of what really happened that day.

But Trump’s appeasement of the culture of violence is not limited to the RNC. In a continued attempt to ignore the violent scenes, multiple Republicans on Capitol Hill whitewashed the truth of January 6. Many others tried to obstruct the committee or mislead its purpose. Trump critics, such as Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, are ostracized by supporters of the former president. Some of those who voted for his impeachment are being expelled from the party.

Trump clearly incited violence before the mob scene, telling his supporters to “fight like hell” to convince Pence to block President Joe Biden’s election victory. His rallies and rhetoric have long had an undertone of threat. And his political discourse is only getting more extreme, for example, with his recent threats against black prosecutors investigating his business empire and his attempts to steal Biden’s election victory in Georgia.

Trump’s ability to intimidate is also underscored by the fact that even a frequent Republican critic of his behavior — Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — said that while she is “not likely” to support him if he is the 2024 nominee , can’t be sure.

Pence’s Thunder

However, some Republicans are now keen to call Trump out. Pence’s speech to the Federalist Society on Friday represented political thunder. He may have finally destroyed the delicate balance he was trying to strike between loyalty to Trump and his own presidential aspirations after his determination that he had no powers as vice president to certify the election in favor of the former president despite his delusional demands.

Pence’s remarks that Trump’s demands were “un-American” and “wrong” and that he was doing his personal duty garnered most of the attention on Friday. But his comment about the implications of Trump’s continued anti-democratic behavior may have drawn the battle lines for a future fight within the GOP itself.
“The truth is that there is more at stake than our party or our political fortunes,” he said. “If we lose faith in the Constitution, we will not only lose the elections: we will lose our country.”

Some might argue that Pence’s statement came woefully late, more than a year after he left office. And he has not yet forcefully condemned the former president’s electoral lies and attacks on democracy. In addition, the former vice president has fomented anarchy and unconstitutional fireworks during the tenure of the twice impeached former president with his admirable loyalty. On NBC’s “Meet the Press” show this Sunday, Pence’s former chief of staff, Marc Short, also tried to mitigate Pence’s political exposure by criticizing the House select committee.

While noting he didn’t see much “legitimate political speech” when he stood next to Pence on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 last year, he also tried to deflect fire from the RNC resolution.
“In talking to some members of the RNC, I think there is a concern that there are people who were there peacefully protesting, who were dragged into this, which I think has turned into more of a persecution by the 6/6 commission. January, and they feel like they’re being treated unfairly,” Short said. The former vice presidential chief of staff is one of several Pence aides who have spoken to the commission, breaking with the Trump world’s refusal to grant his subpoenas any legitimacy.

Although Pence still appears to be a little off the mark, his decision to reprimand Trump publicly is also significant as it is as far as he has come and it is a brave thing to do. It is already drawing a reaction from pro-Trump Republicans. And his hopes of mounting a viable primary campaign may be gone by Friday. Although it was already doubtful that a vice president who thwarted Trump’s illegal attempt to cling to power had any future, given the depth of the GOP base’s investment in the voter fraud fantasy.

Is Trump slipping out of control?

Yet there are at least signs of tentative resistance to Trump, albeit from big Republicans rather than a new standard-bearer with a future in the party who is willing to risk political apostasy.

Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson, for example, said he doesn’t think Trump should run the country again. Cheney said he is unfit “for future office.” There are other signs across the country that the former president’s grip may not be what it once was. Some of the candidates he supported in the midterm elections struggled. Some polls suggest that a growing number of Republican voters would prefer another candidate in 2024. And potential presidential hopefuls like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are raising the possibility of Trumpism without Trump with hardline “Make America” policies. Great Again” on pandemic restrictions, abortion, transgender issues, and other grassroots-pleasing culture war clashes.

But the former president continues to draw crowds. Any decline in leverage at the margins could be due to their comparative invisibility outside the conservative media bubble. The fact that there continues to be so much resistance to the truth about Trump’s coup attempt — fueled by the GOP’s aggressive efforts to rewrite history — suggests that Trump’s power is lingering within the party, as he contemplates a possible return. Millions of Trump voters believe he was misled in office and continue to see him as the antidote to their hatred of government elites and the sense that the country as they know it is being taken away by demographic, social and economic change.

Since triggering a political earthquake with the launch of his campaign in 2015, Trump has crushed all resistance in the party, one reason so many lawmakers are careful not to cross paths with him now. His opponents in the 2016 primary, including Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, were crushed and co-opted by Trump. Critics like former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has retired, and now Cheney, who is facing a Trump-backed primary challenger, and Kinzinger, who is not running for another term, effectively had to choose between their democratic principles and their political careers.

Although Trump’s increasingly unhinged extremism could continue to destroy his hopes of a comeback, especially with a general election hearing, the events of the past few days show that he remains the bedrock of the GOP.