Trump maintains a tight grip on the GOP despite the violent uprising

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PALM BEACH, Fla. – As a raging band of his supporters climbed walls, smashed windows, used flagpoles to defeat police and violated the US Capitol in a bid to overthrow a free and fair election , it seems that Donald Trump’s ouster from the Republican Party is imminent. surely, his name has been tarnished no longer properly.

Some of his closest allies, including Fox News hosts like Laura Ingraham, warned that day that Trump was “destroying” his legacy. “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough, ”said his friend and confidant Sen. Lindsey Graham. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader who worked closely with Trump to dramatically change the judiciary, later denounced him as “morally responsible” for the attack.

But a year later, Trump is hardly a leader in exile. Instead, he is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party and a leading contender for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Trump is positioning himself as a powerful force in major campaigns that will determine who will gain party support toward mid -autumn, when control of Congress, governor’s offices and state election positions is at stake. Somehow so far, little is holding back Trump as he takes unwavering allegiance to his view of the GOP as a litmus test for success in major races, giving little incentive to ambitious Republicans to cross over to him.

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“Let’s just say I was extremely disappointed,” the former New Jersey Gov. said. Christine Todd Whitman, a longtime Republican who now serves on the advisory committee of the Renew America Movement, a group trying to snatch the party from Trump’s control.

“His ego will never let him accept defeat and go quietly at night,” he added. “But what surprised me was how deferential so many Republican elected officials became.”

Instead of expressing any remorse for the events in January. 6, Trump often seems to be getting stronger and continues to lie about his election defeat in 2020. He often – and wrongly – says that the “real” insurgency was in Nov. 3, the election date in 2020 when Democrat Joe Biden won a 306-232 Electoral College victory and a 7 million popular vote margin.

Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general said there was no credible evidence that the election was flawed. Allegations of the former president’s fraud have also been vehemently denied by courts, including Trump -appointed judges.

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Fearless, Trump is preparing for another run for the White House in 2024, and polls suggest that, for now, he could easily walk away from the GOP nomination.

For Trump, the unusual outcome was the product of absolute preference and a misinformation campaign that began even before the election, when he insisted that the only way he could be defeated was if the election was “deceived” and not committed to accepting defeat. the refusal to accept the truth has grown in favor of most Republican leaders, who tend to miss the severity of the insurrection for fear of breaking a party whose base remains tightly aligned with Trump and his efforts to reduce the severity of what happened in January. .

While five people died during the unrest or its immediate aftermath, less than half of Republicans remember the attack as violent or overly violent, according to a poll released this week by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs. About 3 in 10 Republicans said the attack was not violent.

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The situation has shocked and saddened critics in both political parties who are convinced that the uprising will force Republicans to abandon the Trump era once and for all. He became the first president in U.S. history to be impeachable twice. The second impeachment centered on his role in inciting insurrection, but Trump was acquitted in a Senate hearing, a clear indication that he would face some consequences for his actions.

“There was hope when we were in the safe room that we would come back and Republicans would see how crazy it was, how fragile our democracy was, what President Trump did, and that they would turn their backs on that and we would all be come. together, “said Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Describing the events of that day. Instead, he said, “there are people defending insurrections and defending Trump and continuing the challenge and Big Lie.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican who, along with Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who has emerged as one of several anti-Trump critics of the GOP in Congress, has predicted Trump will “lose” hold on the party in the summer. But Kinzinger, who recently announced his decision not to run for re-election, blamed House Republican leader and Trump ally Kevin McCarthy for proving him wrong.

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“What I underestimated was the impact of someone there, and that was Kevin McCarthy and his visit to Mar-a-Lago,” Kinzinger said, referring to a trip McCarthy took to Florida in late January 2020 while the party is on the brink of chaos. With their eyes on the House retake in 2022, Trump and McCarthy agreed to work together and released a photo showing them smiling side by side.

“Kevin McCarthy is legitimate, the only reason Donald Trump is still a force in the party,” Kinzinger said. “That whole-hearted hug, I saw firsthand among the members, was not only afraid to take Trump but in some cases. Hug him wholeheartedly as well.”

McCarthy’s assistants did not respond to a request for comment on Kinzinger’s character.

Others, however, point to fractures that suggest Trump’s power is weakening.

Banned from Twitter and denied his other megaphones on social media, Trump no longer controls the news cycle like he did in office. He canceled a news conference scheduled for Thursday following pressure from some Republican allies, warning that such an event was not advised.

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During last year’s most popular election, Republicans like Virginia gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin strategically kept Trump at length. Youngkin’s success created a possible model for candidates running in battlefield states where suburban voters uncomfortable with the former president were a key bloc.

While Trump’s endorsement remains to be hoped for in many midterm primary races, it has also failed to clear the field in some major races. Both Trump struggled to prevent other Republicans from looking at the 2024 presidential nomination. His former vice president, secretary of state and several allies in the Senate often travel to states early voting, preparing for potential campaigns and refusing to stop running against Trump.

“When someone comes out of the world’s most powerful office, the Oval Office, to sit next to the swimming pool in Mar-a-Lago, his influence weakens,” said John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser. Bolton funded extensive national and state polls on the subject over the past year that found Trump’s sway and the power of his endorsement to have weakened sharply since he left office.

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“I really think the evidence is clear that people are done with Trump,” Bolton said. “He still has support, but it is weakening. Honestly, it’s not going down as fast as I’d like to see and it’s not down to zero. But with real people, it goes downhill. “

Trump also faces chaotic investigations, including in New York, where prosecutors are investigating whether his real estate company deceived banks and tax officials about the value of his assets, increases them to get favorable loan terms or decreases them to reap tax savings. New York Attorney General’s office Letitia James confirmed this week that it is subpoenaing Trump and his two oldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., as part of an investigation into the family’s business practices. Both children became prominent political surrogates for Trump.

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Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, the Jan. 6 committee continues to investigate the Trump White House’s involvement in the deadly insurgency.

Trump is still focused on 2024, even as he continues to be obsessed with the 2020 election. After spending 2021 raising money and announcing his endorsements to candidates who parrot his election, Trump’s team is preparing to pivot to helping those candidates win with an increased rally schedule and financial support, including transfers to candidate accounts and targeted advertising.

Trump, according to allies, sees midterms as a foundation for his next campaign, and intends to use the cycle to position himself for his party’s nomination.

Proponents of voting rights, meanwhile, are increasingly concerned as states with Republican legislatures are pushing legislation that would allow them to influence or overrule the vote in future elections. They fear what could happen if Trump -endorsed candidates for secretary of state and attorney general who say the election was stolen find themselves in positions that could affect the outcome in 2024.

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“It’s a concerted effort to undermine our public’s trust in the electoral system, so in 2022 and 2024, if they don’t want elections – and it’s Republicans – they can overthrow it,” Whitman said, who also serves as co- chair of States United Action, a nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to protect the integrity of future elections. “We’re in a very, very fragile place.”

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed without permission.

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