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Just two weeks ago, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, found Donald Trump guilty in the deadly attack on the United States Capitol. By Thursday, he was seeking their political support.
A private meeting between the two men at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort marked a notable change in the former president’s stature among Republicans-elect. In the immediate aftermath of the Trump-inspired insurrection, the idea that he would enjoy some kind of king-making role in his post-presidency seemed highly unlikely.
But after an initial wave of condemnation, Republicans appear to be warming to Trump, fully aware that his supporters are prepared to punish anyone who shows disloyalty. With that in mind, party leaders are working to keep Trump in the fold as they focus on retaking the House and Senate in 2022.
“United and ready to win at 22,” McCarthy tweeted after their meeting. He and Trump both issued statements describing their commitment to working together to help Republicans regain control of the House and Senate in 2022.
The realignment with Trump comes as those who have crossed paths with him continue to feel the burn. Trump ally Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican, spent the day in Wyoming trying to overthrow Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, who voted for Trump’s impeachment. Amid the backlash, Senate Republicans made it clear this week that they have no intention of convicting Trump.
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As Trump tries to exert influence, it is undeniable that he is diminished.
Before he incited his supporters to storm the Capitol, Trump was expected to spend his post-presidency gleefully settling scores with Republican rivals, launching a Twitter-driven takedown of his successor and thinking about running again for a second term. Now, he is largely isolated and silenced by social media platforms as US President Joe Biden tries to dismantle the executive order from his executive order agenda.
Lynne Sweet / AP
Former US President Donald Trump has not been seen in public since he left office.
He has not been seen in public since he disappeared behind the manicured hedges of Mar-a-Lago last Wednesday, half an hour before his presidency ended. He has spent his days consulting with counsel and defense attorneys as he prepares for his historic second impeachment trial.
Things are very different now. Last time around, Trump had an army of advocates that included a team of Washington lawyers, a presidential communications store, a taxpayer-funded White House law office, and strong backing from top Republicans, including the National Committee. Republican.
This time, Trump is still struggling to assemble a legal team, with less than two weeks to go to trial.
AP
Donald Trump moved to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“I think he’s at a significant disadvantage,” said criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was part of Trump’s legal team in 2020 but is among the long list of attorneys left out.
Yet even impeachment, once seen as an opportunity for Senate Republicans to purge Trump from the party by banning him from running for office again, is now being used as a rallying cry to rally the party against the Democrats. Instead of debating whether he is guilty of “deliberately inciting violence against the United States government,” Republicans have attacked the process, arguing that it is unconstitutional to try a president who has already left the White House.
“At a time when our country needs to come together, Democrats in Congress are repeating the same strategy they employed for the past four years – politically motivated overreach that will only divide us further,” said Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, in a statement. That came after heated internal divisions over whether the group should publicly criticize Trump for inciting the unrest.
Michael Cummo
Republicans are divided on Trump, with some supporting those who voted to impeach him a second time and others wanting them to leave.
In an interview, McDaniel declined to criticize the five Republican senators who voted this week to go ahead with the trial. But he said “it’s more important to look at the 45 who said this is ridiculous.”
Aside from the trial, Trump has gradually begun to return to the public conversation, releasing press releases from the political committee he created before leaving the White House.
“It is decompressing. He has a legal team that he’s trying to organize, and he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing, “said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close congressional ally who has been helping Trump build a legal team after that numerous firms kicked in.
“I think there is an adjustment,” said Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union and another Trump ally.
Susan Walsh / AP
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California.
Jason Miller, a Trump adviser, insisted it was “too early” to discuss the president’s impeachment strategy and the post-presidential political operation expected to include former White House political director Brian Jack and former Trump campaign manager. Bill Stepien.
“We’ve had discussions about where we want to be active with regards to the 2022 midterm elections and how we help Republicans win back the Senate and House,” Miller said, but Trump has yet to decide whether to run in the primaries. to challenge the Republicans who voted to impeach him.
After those members faced intense backlash from Trump supporters, Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Tuesday for an attempt to dismiss his second impeachment trial.
“I think it’s pretty clear that Republican voters are adamantly opposed to impeachment and Republicans who vote for impeachment do so at their own risk,” Miller said.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
House Republicans are expected to vote in the coming days on the possibility of ousting LIz Cheney from his third leadership position for his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Despite the turmoil on Capitol Hill, polls show that Trump remains very popular with Republican voters, many of whom now consider themselves more aligned with him than with the party.
“It is not so much Trump that they are trying to embrace. It is the Trump base that they are trying to embrace, “said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist.” I think Trump’s departure left a huge void. He was the one thing that united the Republicans more than anything. I mean, the Republican Party became the Trump Party for four years. And without him at the helm, there is an obvious power vacuum, and I think they are seeing it now in Congress. “
The question is whether Trump’s influence will endure. The internal divisions his team is fostering could ultimately undermine the party’s quest to retake Congress.
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post
US President Joe Biden took office earlier this month after defeating Donald Trump in elections last November.
And it’s unclear whether you can transfer your personal popularity to other candidates when you’re not on the ballot. Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 and left the Senate this month despite a last-minute appeal from Trump.
Graham, who declared this month that he broke up with Trump: “All I can say is don’t tell me. Enough is enough. “- has since stressed the importance of keeping the party together.
“I want to make sure that the Republican Party can grow and come back, and we are going to need Trump and Trump needs us,” he told reporters.
As for the Republicans who vote to convict Trump, “I guess it depends on what state he’s in and what stage of his career he’s in,” he joked.
