After Jan. 6, Trump continues to hold on to U.S. Republicans | Donald Trump’s news

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Washington, DC – Former United States President Donald Trump has only tightened his grip on the Republican Party since he left office, despite a storm of controversy and widespread criticism he faced after last year’s unrest at the Capitol.

Part of the reason for his continued dominance, David Schultz, a professor of politics at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, explained that Trump remains a “charismatic” figure that appeals to the passions of Republican voters.

“Trump has been successful at getting people through fear, through prejudice, through emotions,” Schultz told Al Jazeera. “The Republican Party is Trump now. Without Trump, I think there would be no Republican Party.”

Whether Trump’s massive influence will last is an open question. Close political trends favor him, but the ongoing investigation into his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection and ongoing legal problems associated with his real estate business in New York poses risks.

‘Incitement to insurrection’

Trump continues to deny that he played a role in the riot, despite being impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for “inciting insurrection”, and to advance false claims that the outcome of the 2020 election he defeated President Joe Biden was deceived.

A mob of his supporters stormed the building after the Republican leader gave an incendiary speech near the White House in which he urged the crowd to “fight like hell” and “stop the theft”.

Trump also tried to block a U.S. House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6 events from accessing White House documents related to the riot, accusing lawmakers of involvement in investigation of a covering.

While it may hurt Trump with the broader majority of Americans who believe Jan. 6 is an attempt to derail the 2020 election, it helps encourage Republican voters to buy what the former president is selling.

“Trump has huge population support,” Matthew Dickinson, a professor of politics at Middlebury College in Vermont, told Al Jazeera.

“Donald Trump is the most well -known Republican politician and as such, whether you like him or hate him – and I honestly think most of the Republican establishment. [doesn’t] like him – your electoral destiny is tied to Donald Trump’s ability to mobilize voters on your behalf. ”

Political influence

Trump keeps open the prospect of a 2024 comeback bid for the White House and he actively supports Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. So far Trump has endorsed approximately 85 Republican candidates for public office, including several challenging Republican incumbents from whom Trump has split.

In Georgia, an important state that Trump defeated in 2020, the former president recruited and supported a group of political candidates to run in the next election that includes former American football star Herschel Walker and former Senator David Purdue.

In fact, Trump’s endorsements can make or break a candidate. His support for Purdue against Republican Governor Brian Kemp gave Purdue strength and hurt Kemp, according to Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia.

“He convinced Republican officials that his blessing was important to their political futures and that his disaster was fatal,” Bullock told Al Jazeera.

Former President Donald Trump embraces Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker at his ‘Save America’ rally in Perry, Georgia, in September 2021 [File: Ben Gray/AP Photo)

In Arizona, Trump is planning to hold a political rally on January 15 to support former local news anchor Kari Lake for governor. Lake has said she believes Trump, not Biden, won the 2020 election in Arizona, even though three state audits showed Biden won.

“I’m honored to have President Trump’s endorsement. And I’m thrilled that he’s coming to Florence, Arizona, January 15 for his first rally of 2022. Let’s make this his biggest rally yet. I will see you there!” Lake tweeted on January 2.

In Alaska, a state Trump won twice, he has endorsed Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican state official who is challenging incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump for the January 6 insurrection.

Trump endorsed Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy on condition Dunleavy would not endorse Murkowski. “If Mike endorses her, which is his prerogative, my endorsement of him is null and void, and of no further force or effect!” Trump said in a statement.

Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who voted to convict Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, faces a Trump-backed challenger in her 2022 fight for re-election [File: J Scott Applewhite/AP Photo]Elections in the middle

To be sure, Trump’s continued stance on the Republican Party, and his future political prospects, will be tested in the upcoming elections in November. His previous track record of wins and losses on endorsements has been reviewed, though Republicans are poised to be great this year.

Some Republicans fear intra-party fights in Republican primaries will be crushed because of a retrial over Trump’s grievances that could put Democrats in danger of beating the general election.

In Georgia, Trump sparked the Republican feud by urging Purdue-which lost its Senate re-election bid last year-to run against the current Republican Kemp. Kemp was angry with Trump when he certified Biden’s victory in the 2020 election in Georgia.

Across the country, the contest in Alaska compares Trump against Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who supports Murkowski.

Trump followers, Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, and Louie Gohmert, the new faces of the House Republican Party [J Scott Applewhite/AP Photo]

But another part of what keeps Trump relevant is the bitter partisanship that currently dominates American politics, which analysts say is a function of the gerrymandering of congressional districts that sideline moderate voices. in both parties.

Although some Republicans rejected Trump’s statement, including Representative Adam Kinzinger, who voted for Trump’s impeachment but was not re -elected in the midterms, most fell in Trump’s line.

Meanwhile, a group of non -speaking members of the House, including Representatives Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, and Paul Gosar, emerged as the top cheerleaders for his message to Congress.

“Trump has always appealed to the right-wing base of the Republican Party and he has been able to get it,” Thomas Volgy, a professor in the School of Government and Public Policy at The University of Arizona, told Al Jazeera.

“When you take gerrymandering, the politics of identity, the punishment of people who speak a different tone to your own political party … it’s very hard for people to stay away.”

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