The GOP can smell the blood on a wounded Trump

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Senate Republicans who want to move on from Donald Trump are smelling blood after a series of disastrous mistakes by the former president that they see as opening the door for GOP rivals to challenge and defeat him in the 2024 presidential primary.

GOP lawmakers say Trump looks increasingly vulnerable in a primary after what they describe as his erratic behavior in recent weeks, raising new doubts about his ability to beat President Biden or anyone else another Democrat in a general election.

Senate Republican Whip John Thune (SD) said Trump’s latest self-inflicted wound where he talked about suspending the Constitution creates a big opening for other Republicans weighing presidential bids.

This is another level or another realm in terms of the things that the former president said. This one is beyond the pale in that if there is someone who aspires to run, it is definitely helpful for them, Thune said.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), who usually avoids commenting on Trump’s behavior, criticized the former president for the second time in just a week, insisting that Trump would have trouble being sworn in again as president if he doesn’t do it. support the promotion of the Constitution.

Anyone seeking the presidency who thinks the Constitution can be suspended or disobeyed, it seems to me, is going to have a hard time being sworn in as president of the United States, McConnell told reporters Tuesday.

Trump proposed over the weekend to end all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution, in response to a report about discussions on moderating Twitter’s content during the 2020 election. .

The former president made his own cause as he is still criticized for hosting dinners at his Mar-a-Lago home with white supremacist Nick Fuentes and the artist formerly known as Kanye West, who has repeatedly made antisemitic remarks.

The controversies even have Trump supporters shaking their heads.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (RN.D.), who was a reliable ally of Trump when he was president, said the comments about suspending the Constitution and Trump’s meeting with Fuentes were potentially fatal to his political aspirations.

“I think this recent behavior is a weakness that is nearing the death of the group that loves Donald Trump,” he said. That’s a head scratcher.

Now when you talk about suspending the Constitution, that becomes language that confuses traditional Trump patriots, he said.

Cramer said he didn’t think Trump would blow the Republican field by announcing his intention to run for president again in 2024. But he was surprised that Trump appeared to be giving his rivals powerful ammunition. to Republicans.

He called Trump’s behavior strange, adding that they were bad tactics.

Sen also said. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)

Im sure half of the Senate [is] actively considering it, he joked with colleagues weighing potential White House runs.

I would think that if it was two or three people in elementary school, it could probably easily be 20, he said. I think that if people feel that the former president is really weak and they want to get in, my guess is that if one or two people get in, 10 more will say, What the hell, why not me?

Hawley and two other Senate Republicans thought to be considering presidential bids, Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.), have ruled out running for president.

But two other high-profile conservatives, Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), are not leaving the presidential race.

They both challenged Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and finished in second and third place, respectively. Cruz won 551 delegates and Rubio won 167 by the time Trump clinched the nomination.

Sen. Tim Scott (RS.C.) is also viewed by colleagues in the Senate as a potential candidate for president in 2024.

Trump announced his new White House bid just days after a disappointing midterm election season for the GOP in general and some of his favorite candidates in particular.

Since then, Trumps run of bad news has only continued.

On Tuesday, he suffered another blow after a New York jury found the Trump Organization guilty on 17 counts related to what prosecutors say was a 15-year tax fraud scheme.

Trumps dinner with Fuentes had Senate Republicans declaring last week that white supremacy and antisemitism have no place in their party and questioning Trump’s ability to win the GOP nomination in 2024.

McConnell publicly questioned Trump’s ability to be reelected president after that misstep.

There is no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy and anyone who meets with people who espouse that point of view, in my judgment, [is] likely won’t be elected president of the United States, McConnell told reporters last week.

He has been more willing to criticize Trump in recent weeks than in the immediate aftermath of the disappointing midterm elections, when the GOP leader only predicted to reporters that the 2024 Republican presidential primary would be fiercely competitive and that he planned to stick with it.

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The way I’m going into this presidential primary season is to avoid it. I have no dog in that fight. I think it will be a highly contested nomination fight with other candidates entering, he said last month.

Sen. said. Mike Rounds (RS.D.) that a candidate’s perceived electability in the general election will be a critical factor in 2024.

I think the American public recognizes, on the Republican side, if we’re going to win a general election, we’re going to have to have somebody who can beat Joe Biden or another Democrat, and obviously there are better options out there who has a better chance of actually winning a general election than Trump, he said.

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