New York – President Donald Trump’s firm control over Republicans in Washington is beginning to break down, leaving him more politically isolated than at any other time in his turbulent tenure.
Then encourage a crowd that later starred in a violent assault on the United States Capitol, Trump seems to have lost some of his most powerful allies, including South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. Two members of his government resigned, as did at least half a dozen attendees. A handful of Congress Republicans are openly considering joining a renewed attempt to open a political trial against him.
A Republican Party senator who had already distanced herself from Trump called for her resignation and questioned her own continuity in the formation.
“I want him out,” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told The Anchorage Daily News. “He’s done bad enough.”
The insurrection that followed a landslide electoral defeat in two ballots in Georgia achieved what other bad times of his presidency could not: forcing Republicans to reevaluate their relationship with a leader who long ago abandoned tradition and decorum. The result could reshape the party, threatening the influence Trump wants at the time it creates a divide between those in Washington and activists in regions where the president enjoys great popularity.
“At this point, I won’t defend him anymore,” point Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary during George W. Bush’s presidency and Republican Party strategist and Trump voter. “I will not defend it to agitate the masses and incite the mob. It is alone.”
Earlier in the week, Trump was arguably the most dominant force in the Republican arena, the key piece in nominating the 2024 candidate or even the Republican presidential nominee himself. On Friday there was a growing feeling that he is marked forever and could be forced to leave office before the end of his 12-day term.
In the absence of his resignation, orders for a second political trial at the Capitol rose on Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress would begin the process unless Trump leaves the White House “immediately and voluntarily.”
The president-elect, Joe Biden, Has not yet backed the proposal, suggesting that there is not enough time before his inauguration on January 20 to materialize the political trial or any other constitutional solution.
“I am now focused on us taking control as president and vice president on the 20th and making our agenda move forward as quickly as possible,” Biden told reporters.
Trump continues to have support, especially among many grassroots voters and conservative activists outside of Washington.
Thursday morning he was greeted with a standing ovation and shouts of “We love you!” when he spoke by telephone at a Republican National Committee working breakfast in Florida.
“The vast majority of the committee is in a state of total denial,” said Bill Palatucci, a New Jersey Republican who is part of the Committee and attended the meeting. “They are willing to condemn the violence, but without any reference to the role of president in any of that.”
The president insists he did nothing wrong. He continues to tell his advisers, at least in private, that they stole his election victory. Republican officials in key disputed states, their last secretary of justice and a number of judges – some appointed by him – have called the allegations unfounded.
Trump had to be persuaded to record the video released Thursday night in which he finally condemned the assailants at the Capitol and acknowledged his defeat for the first time in November, although he initially rejected the prospect of speaking negatively. “my people.”
He agreed after White House attorney Pat Cipollone warned him he could face legal issues for inciting the riots. Others, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and his daughter Ivanka Trump, urged him to send a message that would stifle conversation about his possible removal either through a political trial or the constitutional process contemplated in the 25th amendment.
And although he acknowledged that there will be a new government on January 20, on Friday he announced that he would not attend Biden’s swearing-in. He will thus become the first outgoing president since Andrew Johnson 152 years ago not going to the inauguration of his successor.
Trump has no plans to disappear from the political debate once he leaves the Oval Office, according to his advisers, who believe he remains very popular among Republican bases.
So that there is no doubt, the false claims about electoral fraud in its November defeat penetrated among hundreds of thousands of Republican voters in the ballot of the Senate elections in Georgia held this week. About 7 out of 10 agreed with the false claim that Biden was not the legitimate president-elect, according to AP VoteCast, a poll of more than 3,700 voters.
And in the face of this continued voter loyalty, elected officials in areas of strong Republican tradition must remain loyal to the outgoing president even if his own cabinet is not.