Editorial rights purchased from iStock. Photo by Ирина Мещерякова
Senators Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and Mitt Romney have spoken out against the Republican National Committee’s decision to censure Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
The stated reason for the censure is to punish them for participating in the Jan 6 Committee. But proponents of the censure are getting unexpected pushback from three of their top leaders, who think the violence on Jan. 6 was wrong and believe we need to hear what the committee has to say about it.
They are not the only ones. According to the Washington Post, Republican Senators John Thune, Richard Durbin, Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito, and Kevin Kramer have jumped on board as well. Now the Chairwoman of the RNC, and champion of the censure move, Ronna McDaniel, is having a little trouble explaining herself.
Her original rationale for the censure was stated pretty clearly in an interview she did with the Washington Post on February 4 when she claimed, erroneously:
“We’ve had two members engage in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who engaged in legitimate political discourse.”
The problem for Republicans is the “legitimate political discourse” she spoke of is the same language used in the censure document — and we all know what we saw on Jan. 6 was not “legitimate political discourse.”
In response to the negative feedback within her own party, McDaniel has resorted to verbal gymnastics. She is now insisting the decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger wasn’t meant to discount the violence we all witnessed — it was simply to say there was some “legitimate political discourse” happening that day — in other words, it wasn’t all bad.
But the committee isn’t investigating people who were simply waving a flag or wearing a MAGA hat. The investigation is focused on specific acts of violence that included trashing the Capitol building, beating up Capitol police, and putting the lives of hundreds of members of Congress (as well as Vice President Pence) at risk.
This is a turning point for the Republican Party. The last time we saw a significant group of Republican Senators refuse to follow the party line was when a handful voted to impeach President Trump over his attempt to manipulate the situation in Ukraine for his own political gain. And now, just a year later, the party is splitting, again.
For a party whose goal is to take back Congress in 2022, this can’t be good. You would think McDaniel would have anticipated this, but it seems she’s being guided by something other than the usual desire to keep her party on track. It appears she isn’t calling the shots anymore — Donald Trump is. And this is a real problem for a party that has always relied on unity.
Senator Susan Collins summed it up this way:
“The Republican Party started this year with the decided advantage on the issues that will determine the outcome of the fall elections,” Collins added. “But every moment that is spent re-litigating a lost election or defending those who have been convicted of criminal behavior moves us further away from the goal of victory this fall.”
Collins is right. This was a foolish move. But we can likely look forward to more foolish moves by the party of Trump in the future — as long as he’s still holding the majority of Republicans hostage.
The decision to censure two of their own was not about what happened on Jan. 6. or what Cheney and Kinzinger are doing to investigate it — it was about making Trump happy. For Trump, all that matters is discrediting anyone who makes him look bad. He doesn’t care if it divides the party as long as it serves him, personally. That’s why McDaniel did it.
If you doubt this, consider the fact that the RNC Chairwoman, who used to be Ronna Romney McDaniel, stopped using “Romney” in her name after Trump asked her to. He didn’t want the name of someone who voted to impeach him to be recalled every time the RNC Chairwoman was mentioned. McDaniel complied.
Immediately after the censure vote was approved, Trump made a statement congratulating the RNC, and McDaniel, for punishing “two horrible RINOs who put themselves ahead of our Country.”
True to form, Trump has manipulated McDaniel and the majority of the Republican Party into pretending his followers did nothing wrong when they stormed the Capitol, spread human feces on the walls, and stole Pelosi’s computer, while shouting, “Hang Mike Pence.”
As for former VP Pence, he gave a speech for the Federalist Society in which he defended his actions on Jan. 6. He said there was no way for him to have overturned the election of 2020 without violating the Constitution. He even went so far as to say, “President Trump is wrong.”
Was this bravery on his part? No. This was purely self-serving. If he didn’t confirm publicly that there was no way for him to overturn the election, he would forever be the guy who screwed it up. He can’t be that guy.
Instead, he’s the guy who never takes a stand or does anything worthy of note.
The cowardice in the party of Trump is as rampant as ever. Pence didn’t overcome that by saying “Trump is wrong.” He just tried to make it look like he did. Unfortunately for him, the rest of the Republican Party is now trying to avoid taking sides in the Pence/Trump tiff — they see it as yet another potential issue of divisiveness within the party — and they are still reeling from the backlash over the censure vote.
Trump’s mafioso tactics are no longer the only thing making Republicans quiver. They are now having trouble figuring out which side to bat for. They have to wonder what will happen if Trump doesn’t run and Pence stays in politics. Which side should they pick when they can’t know the future? It’s a dilemma.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis can’t even state his position on Pence’s remarks. When pressed regarding his reaction to Pence’s statement, DeSantis equivocated. In fact, his response made him sound a lot like Mike Pence.
But Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis wins the award for the most cowardly response ever given to a political question. Here’s her response when asked if she agreed with the RNC’s decision to censure Cheney and Kinzinger:
“I think it was an interesting approach to have a novel approach to have a national Republican committee take a position like that. So, this not a support or oppose, this is just an observation that I thought that was novel and unique.”
How’s that for political courage?
When Trump finally admits he’s not running in 2024 and the Republicans need to find someone to replace him, they are going to have real trouble finding candidates who haven’t already publicly embarrassed themselves. All Democrats will have to do is play the tapes, over and over.
For those of you who still think Trump will run for president in 2024, I beg to differ. Trump lost a fair election in 2020. Since then, his support has dwindled. Recent polling suggests more people are now committed to the party than to Trump. Trump won’t run because he can’t risk another loss. Just ask Michael Cohen. He thinks Trump will pretend he will run until the last possible moment because that’s his only way to keep the money rolling in. It’s just another grift for him. I’m with Cohen.
Sometime, probably in April of this year, when the public hearings of the Jan. 6 Committee are aired on television, Trump will realize just how bad things could get for him. Despite his faith in the power of positive thinking, he will start looking for a way out.
My guess is one of two things will happen: he’ll jump ship and hightail it to Russia before the Department of Justice gets around to indicting him or his fast-food diet will finally catch up with him. I’m okay with either.