Senators Enable Trump’s Worst Ways Through Their Wishful Thinking
The Republicans in congress are sleep walking the nation into a dictatorship just like lawmakers are sleep walking towards a Russian victory in Ukraine, which may very well lead to further Russian incursions and wars.
By being silently supportive or being apologizers of trump, members of congress are complicit in his crimes. This deafening silence is particularly frightening in light of the latest Reuters/lpsos polling which shows that trump leads President Joe Biden by five points when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is on the 2024 presidential ballot.
In the early years of trump’s presidency, most Republicans shrugged at his outrageous claims, saying that Congress will never give trump the freedom to do what he says he will do. Others dismissed trump’s outlandish claims as a joke that he was saying just for effect. Republicans responded to trump’s words by saying that he doesn’t mean what he says and will adjust his behavior.
Trump’s rhetoric has turned even darker and more violent while the Republicans have stood by, waiting and hoping. In recent months, Republicans have downplayed when trump was accused of fomenting the riot at the Capitol by his supporters.
They minimized trump’s words when he pledged retribution against his enemies in a second presidential term. They blinked when trump described the “vermin” who oppose him and how he will “terminate” the Constitution. He said he would be a dictator but only for the first day of a new administration, “Because I want a wall, and I want to drill, drill, drill.” The Republicans downplayed the incendiary rhetoric and laughed.
With a few exceptions, Republican supporters are refusing to criticize trump as they either tacitly approve of his radical plans or they are so cowardly and frightened of infuriating trump’s base. As the polls show trump’s lead snowballing over the other Republican presidential hopefuls, Republicans in Congress move closer to surrendering to trump’s inevitable primary victory all to avoid a second term for Biden at any costs, even if it means victory for a dictator in waiting.
Republicans who had even slight public skepticism over a fringe minority push to impeach Biden are softening their resistance to get in line with trump’s wishes. Likewise many are no longer solidly behind funding Ukraine in the war against Russia. Instead, the growing influence of trump is causing Republicans to demand that the administration agree to major border security efforts before they will vote to fund Ukraine.
Trump’s allies are saying it’s time for the Republican candidates for president to drop out and rally behind trump.
“I think it’s time. There are four other people still in the race, none of them are above 10 percent. Trump’s numbers are steady. Look, you either love Donald Trump or you hate him; you’re not going to change anyone’s minds now,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., referring to Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla.; former U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley; former N.J. Gov. Chris Christie; and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.
“They’re all competing for second place, looks like to me, and really hurting each other, hurting their own reputation and hurting the party,” Marshall said after the fourth debate.
Marshall, the 13th senator to endorse trump, offered dark advice on the heels of trump’s vows to punish those who have opposed him.
“He (trump) is going to be the president of national security. He’s going to secure the border. He’s going to make the economy strong,” Marshall said. “His enemies will fear us and respect us.”
Marshall said people should not “overreact to every word he (trump) says.” Marshall said trump will be “a third Andrew Jackson, a third Teddy Roosevelt, and a third Barnum & Bailey.”
Marshall, 63, has been a senator since 2021. A strong trump supporter, Marshall described the “sham” impeachment inquiry over trump’s effort to strongarm the Ukrainian president to investigate Hunter Biden.
Marshall disputed the results of the 2020 presidential election, and said he would call for an electoral commission to investigate “the integrity of the ballot, to hold states accountable to the time proven constitutional system of the Electoral College.” He promoted conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention inflated death numbers. Marshall also rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.
Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., endorsed trump in September and said “If you’re not rallying around him, you’re giving tacit support to Biden.”
Braun, 69, been a senator since 2019, is now a candidate for Indiana governor. He voted to acquit trump in the impeachment trial related to the Ukraine scandal. Braun said that trump was acting to reduce corruption in Ukraine and that trump “hopefully” learned something when he was exonerated at his first impeachment trial.
Braun later defended trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He also has said that he disagreed with the 1967 Supreme Court ruling that bans on interracial marriage were unconstitutional.
Other senators who endorsed trump last week included Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., after North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum dropped out of the presidential race. Cramer urged his GOP colleagues to join behind trump as “the leader of our GOP and ensure a Republican victory in 2024.”
Cramer, 62, a senator since 2019, was an early supporter of trump in the 2016 election. Cramer is a critic of climate change facts and supported trump’s 2017 executive order banning entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.
“I think what Donald Trump is doing is he’s pulling America’s head out of the sand and facing the reality that we have not been kept very safe by current immigration and refugee policies,” Cramer said.
In June 2020, at the behest of trump, Cramer blocked bipartisan legislation to sanction China over its actions to undermine Hong Kong’s independence. On May 28, 2021, Cramer voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the 2021 Capitol attack. In December 2019, again at trump’s request, Cramer cast the only vote against a Senate motion to recognize the Armenian genocide. Trump opposed the motion because of his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Hoeven, 66, has been in the senate since 2011. Hoeven voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the attack on the Capitol. He said Trump is strong on the issues that are important for North Dakota.
“That includes making America energy dominant, reducing the regulatory burden, securing our border, growing our economy and strong support for our military,” Hoeven wrote.
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., endorsed trump and said the ex-president’s record “is why he’s “dominating in the polls and why his insurmountable lead only continues to grow as the primary dates draw closer.”
Britt, 41, is in her first term in the Senate and is the first woman to be elected to the Senate from Alabama and the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Senate. A supporter of trump, Britt did not reject trump’s erroneous claims that he lost the 2020 election because of widespread voter fraud.
Britt had strong words after visiting the southern border on Mexico and the U.S.
“I heard about victims being raped, I heard about children being recycled, men becoming indentured servants,” Britt said. “We know those people aren’t living an American dream, they’re living an American nightmare.”
Britt claimed the Biden administration was unaware of the dangers of what she referred to as an open border.
“We know Donald Trump will secure the border,” Britt said. “He will put back in the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy. He will make sure that we finish building physical barriers, build the wall, put up technological barriers that will keep our country safe.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., was the most effusive in his endorsement of trump, calling him “the greatest president we have ever known.” Gaetz, a far right member of the Freedom Caucus, said New York was trying to “bankrupt and imprison” trump.
Gaetz also praised the disgraced former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, calling him “the greatest mayor who has ever lived.” Giuliani and 17 other trump supporters have been indicted in Georgia on charges of attempting to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. Giuliani also has been found guilty of defaming two Georgia election workers and is facing millions of dollars in damages.
Another unflinching trump supporter is Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., who said during a recent House committee meeting that President Biden is “cognitively gone.”
“You get him with five doctors, they would tell you the man’s not there,” Norman said. “Now that’s what Americans are concerned about.”
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., said she disagreed “vehemently” with Norman’s assessment of Biden.
“Have you spent any time with Mr. Biden, with the president?” Scanlon asked Norman.
“Good God, no!” snapped Norman , drawing Scanlon’s retort that Norman has been watching “a little too much Fox News.”
Republicans have claimed that Biden’s mental acuity is falling while trump has been the target of criticism over his mental fitness after his ongoing barrages of vile and often nonsensical posts on his social network page, Truth Social.
Norman, 70, a real estate developer has been in congress since 2017. He urged trump to use martial law to prevent the Biden from taking office in January of 2021. On September 20, 2018, at an election debate for the Republican nomination, Norman joked about sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“Did y’all hear this latest late-breaking news on the Kavanaugh hearings? …Ruth Bader Ginsburg came out saying she was groped by Abraham Lincoln,” Norman said.
In August 2022, Norman criticized Biden for forgiving up to $10,000 of student loan debt for eligible borrowers. Norman was criticized because he had $306,520 of debt from his federal, PPP loan forgiven.
In 2019, Norman and a small group of House Republicans sought to reinstate Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, on House committees. King’s committee positions were revoked because of a series of racist and white nationalist remarks. The group calling for King’s reinstatement included Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz. King was not reinstated.
After Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Norman called for an investigation into trump’s claims of voter fraud. Two weeks after the Jan. 6 insurrection, Norman texted White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows asking him to urge trump to invoke martial law to prevent Biden’s inauguration. Norman supports ongoing efforts to impeach Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Another strong trump supporter, West Virginia Republican Secretary of State Mac Warner, has continued to claim that Biden won the 2020 election through voter fraud and that the CIA may have been involved.
“The election was stolen, and it was stolen by the CIA,” Warner said at a debate for West Virginia gubernatorial candidates.
Warner, an Army veteran, has been hammering the CIA and FBI on the campaign trail, often repeating his claims about the 2020 election, calling the two organizations a bigger concern than countries like Russia and Iran.
Warner, 68, was elected West Virginia secretary of state in 2016. After trump lost the 2020 election and made false claims of fraud, Warner defended trump’s claims and participated in “Stop the Steal” protests that led up to the Jan. 6 rebellion.
A Washington Post story on Dec. 13, outlined a series of issues that showed how far Republicans went to downplay trump’s intentions during the first trump administration.
Among the examples, trump wanted to fire Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation. Republicans resisted enacting legislation to protect Mueller, believing that Trump wouldn’t actually fire him.
“I don’t think he would do that,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“I’ve got zero concerns that the president or his team is going to fire Mueller,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham, R-S.C.
Mueller’s report noted in June 2017, that trump directed White House Counsel Donald McGahn “to call the Acting Attorney General and say that the Special Counsel had conflicts of interest and must be removed.” McGahn declined to carry out the directive.
Toward the end of his tenure, trump ramped up complaints about voter fraud and after the 2020 election, he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
“There will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792,” McConnell said.
“He says crazy stuff. We’ve always had a peaceful transition of power. It’s not going to change,” said then-Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb.
“He (trump) stokes the fire sometimes,” said Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind. “If you took it seriously, it would be alarming. And I don’t think that that’s the case.”
“Let me be very clear to you: It will be peaceful. I know you want to create a hypothetical,” then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said.
Infamously, trump backed up his plans and rallied supporters behind the idea that the election had been stolen, culminating in the violent Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump talked about taking foreign help in his elections and in 2016, he asked Russia to find Hillary Clinton’s “missing” emails.
“Look, that’s Trump,” said then-Sen. James M. Inhofe, R-Okla. “There’s nothing sinister about it; it was off the cuff.”
McCarthy wouldn’t condemn trump’s comments and said, “I know this president would not want any foreign government interfering in this election.”
A month after he asked for Russian help in finding Clinton e-mails, trump withheld aid from Ukraine and pressured its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to find dirt on the Bidens. The situation led to trump’s first impeachment.
Trump was impeached twice and was acquitted twice and critical senators were sure that he had learned his lessons.
“I believe that the president has learned from this case,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said about trump’s first impeachment, over Ukraine. “The president has been impeached. That’s a pretty big lesson.”
“I think he’s learned that he has to be maybe a little more judicious and careful, the way he’s phrasing certain things,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.
Trump showed that he was hardly chastened by the first impeachment. He was impeached again for the Jan. 6 insurrection and later failed to return classified documents to the government, resulting in four criminal indictments.