WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump and his supporters are intensifying efforts to shame — and potentially remove — members of their party who are seen as disloyal to the former president and his false claims that last year's election was stolen from him.
On Capitol Hill, Rep.
Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican in the House, risks losing her
leadership post amid her increasingly public dispute with Trump. In Utah, Sen.
Mitt Romney, a rare Trump foe in the GOP, faced the indignity over the weekend
of reminding a booing crowd that he was once their presidential
standard-bearer. And in Texas, the only openly anti-Trump Republican in a
crowded special election for a congressional seat finished a lowly 9th.
Trump left office
nearly four months ago with his reputation badly damaged after a mob of his
supporters waged a deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification
of election results. But the recent developments suggest a revival of his
political fortunes in which those who refuse to go along with his falsehoods
find themselves on the defensive.
“It’s scary,” said
Michael Wood, the Texas Republican congressional candidate who based his
campaign on a vow to push the GOP past the “cult of personality” that is Trump.
In the end, he garnered just 3% of the vote in Saturday’s special election,
while two Trump supporters, including one he endorsed, will advance to a
runoff.
Trump's grip on the
party may only tighten in coming days.
Adding to his flurries
of press releases, his powerful Facebook account could be reinstated this week
if a quasi-independent oversight board rules in his favor. Meanwhile,
Republicans in Virginia will decide whether to nominate a vocal Trump supporter
for governor in one of the few marquee elections on the calendar this year.
An important signal of
the party's direction may come on Capitol Hill, where Cheney's future is in
question.
The Wyoming
congresswoman, the most senior Republican to call for Trump's impeachment, has
insisted that the party must reject the former president's lie that the
election was somehow stolen. There is no evidence to support Trump's
allegations of mass voter fraud, and numerous audits, Republican state election
officials and Trump's own attorney general have said the election was fair.
But Trump has stuck to
his story and issued a “proclamation” Monday attempting to co-opt the language
his foes use to brand his falsehoods.
“The Fraudulent
Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG
LIE!” he wrote.
Cheney, who has not
ruled out a 2024 run herself, fired back.
“The 2020 presidential
election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE,
turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system,”
she tweeted.
Clearly she has no
intention of scaling back her criticism, even as she faces the possibility of
losing her leadership post.
Cheney survived an
earlier attempt to oust her from leadership, but it could be different this
time. GOP leader Kevin McCarthy stood by her earlier this year, but he has
declined to defend her from the latest round of attacks as he faces
conservatives restive for her removal. That's a sign of McCarthy’s own
calculations as he works to stay close to Trump while also trying to extend a
wider tent to help his party win general elections.
While the pro-Trump
Republican voices on Capitol Hill far outweigh his party critics, the
detractors should not be dismissed.
In all, 10 House
Republicans voted to impeach Trump for inspiring the Jan. 6 attack on the
Capitol, and seven Senate Republicans voted to convict. Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell voted to acquit Trump, but publicly chastised the former
president and has privately encouraged the party to move on.
It's a different
calculation for rank-and-file members of Congress, particularly those
representing heavily Republican areas, where roughly 8 in 10 party supporters
typically approve of Trump. Among party activists and base voters, that number
is thought to be much higher.
It’s still too early
to draw any definite conclusions about Trump’s success so far this year. Some
Republican strategists privately suggest there are real signs that the former
president’s strength with rank-and-file voters and elected officials has begun to
wane.
“He becomes less
relevant with every passing day, but among those who still listen to him he’s
more relevant than ever,” said veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz. “He
still matters. He’s going to matter for months and even years, but as time goes
on he’ll matter less and less.”
For now, the former
reality TV celebrity seems to be enjoying the ride.
“So nice to see RINO
Mitt Romney booed off the stage at the Utah Republican State Convention,” Trump
crowed in a series of celebratory statements Monday lauding the Texas results
and criticism of Cheney and Romney. “RINO” means “Republican in Name Only.”
In Utah over the
weekend, a roomful of Republicans had rained boos down on Romney before trying
unsuccessfully to censure him for backing Trump’s impeachment.
“Show respect,” the
crowd was reprimanded by the state party chair. Romney reminded them that he
was a lifetime conservative and their presidential nominee in 2012 — and told
them Republicans would only hurt themselves by attacking each other.
“If we divide our
party, we’re going to be a losing party,” he said.
In Texas, losing
congressional candidate Wood, a 34-year-old former Marine and two-time Purple
Heart recipient, has commiserated with a handful of prominent anti-Trump
Republicans, including Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., former Arizona Sen. Jeff
Flake, former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Cheney, who had donated to Wood’s
campaign and offered moral support.
He said Monday there’s
real urgency for anti-Trump Republicans to unify against him.
“This can’t be just
individuals pushing back. We’ve got to organize and show the public you can be
a good Republican and not buy into all that BS,” Wood said. “This fight won’t
be won with podcasts and op-eds.”
Mike DuHaime, a top
Republican strategist, said the party is still grappling with its identity
post-Trump, but argued that it will be better positioned going forward if it
includes conservatives like Cheney and Romney.
“There are people who
are playing to the base of the electorate, which is very passionate and
believes the big lie about the election. And it’s enough to win a primary for
Congress or Senate or governor, or even president, it seems." But, he
warned, “If we stay focused on only that, it’s not going to be successful
enough in the general election to win back the majority.”
"We have to at
some point put this behind us if we want to be successful in a general
election.”
___
Peoples reported from
New York. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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