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Several Republican senators recently publicly doubted the president of the United States, Trump; one senator even left open whether she would vote for him. The pact the party made with Trump is crumbling. How did it come about, so close to the elections?
By Torsten Teichmann, ARD Studio Washington
Republican MPs are suddenly distancing themselves from US President Donald Trump. In a phone conversation with voters, Senator Ben Sasse clearly distanced himself. “The way he kisses dictators on the buttocks, the way he ignores the suffering of Uyghurs in China, he did not lift a finger for the people of Hong Kong. And we no longer lead our allies, we betray them under their leadership. “.
Senator John Cornyn also talks about differences with Trump. And Senator Susan Collins leaves open who will vote in the presidential election. But why now? It is worth looking back to find the answer.
Trump’s critique of Republicans
“Scammers,” “pathological liars,” and “fanatics” were the names of prominent Trump Republicans in the summer of 2016. There was mutual dislike: Trump believed that the Republican leadership was part of the problem.
The New Yorker wins the election the night of November 9, 2016. Republicans also have a majority in the Senate and House of Representatives.
The majority should be the first to revoke the hated Obama Care health insurance. In the spring of 2017, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, presented a draft. But the proposal has not been voted on.
Ideological divisions and political turmoil within Republicans caught Trump off guard. In the end, US Senator John McCain cancels a compromise in Congress. The president is beside himself and returns to the base. At a rally in Arizona, the home state of McCain and Jeff Flake, another Trump critic in Republican ranks, Trump called Flake “lenient on the border and on crime.”
Personal threats and attacks
The president no longer only responds via Twitter, but deprives his critics of the local base. Dozens of Republican MPs are retiring.
Senator Flake warns of lasting damage to the party through “personal attacks, threats against principles and institutions, shameless disregard for truth and decency. Politics can silence us when we must speak.” Whoever is silent can become an accomplice, says Flake.
Trump as guarantor of the majority
But the call fades. Remaining Republicans seek success with the president: the tax reform plan is being relaunched. This time there is the majority of Trump. At a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House in December 2017, MPs were asked to express words of praise for the president.
Ryan thanks Trump: “Something so profound is not possible without excellent leadership from the president. Mr. President, thank you for taking us to the goal.”
It’s a submission scene, and the pact stands. Even more so when US Democrats win a majority in the House of Representatives in 2018. Trump only owes Republicans that he was not removed from office after the impeachment process. Because the party saw Trump as a good opportunity to maintain power.
But the crown pandemic and the president’s behavior are calling the pact into question: In particular, Republican MPs who fear reelection are realizing the price they could pay for their alliance. So they keep their distance.
