“Trump repeated familiar lies about the 2020 election and insulted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Saturday when speaking to Republican National Committee donors gathered for the first time since [his] defeat,” CNN reported on April 10, 2021. Read story here.
The RNC held its spring retreat “just down the road from his Mar-a-Lago home — a sign that the institutions of the party remain centered” on Trump even “as it looks to regain power in 2022,” CNN said. Other news outlets have also been reporting tht Trump appears to remain in control of the party and his “populist” white supremacy movement continues to dominate the party’s ideology and agenda.
At this weekend’s gathering of high-profile party donors and supporters, which also featured several potential 2024 presidential candidates, “Trump went through an extensive recounting of debunked claims the election was stolen from him … and insisted the results were rigged,” CNN said, adding, “In addition to insulting the Republican Senate leader — which received huge applause — [he] was highly critical of Dr. Anthony Fauci and once again took aim at former Vice President Mike Pence, whom he said had failed him in certifying the Electoral College results.”
Dr. Fauci, who heads the immunology branch of the National Institutes of Health, a federal agency, is a medical expert on infectious diseases, and has been the voice of science and reason during the pandemic, which has killed over half a million Americans. Despite that, many grassroots Republicans have fiercely resisted common-sense measures to contain Covid-19’s spread, and most GOP politicians have pushed strongly for “reopening,” prioritizing the economy ahead of saving lives. Trump’s pandemic rhetoric also has encouraged racist attacks on Asian-Americans, who had nothing to do with the pandemic, which started in China and has spread worldwide.
Trump brought dozens of lawsuits against the election results, but proved none of his “fraud” claims, and all his lawsuits — many presided over by Republican judges, including some he appointed himself — were dismissed. America’s constitutional system proved stronger than his efforts to bull past its procedures for electing presidents. He wanted Pence to violate the Constitution by rejecting electoral votes submitted by several states he lost. Pence, whose proper role was purely ministerial, earned Trump’s ire by refusing.
CNN, which wasn’t invited to the event, said its reporting is based on what it was told by “a person in the room.”
The network added,
“With the party completely out of power in Washington for the first time in four years, GOP donors have been eager to hear from leaders about how Republicans can win back the House and Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024. But the question of how big a role Trump will and should play in the GOP future looms.”
The answer to that question is obvious: Trump should play no role in the GOP’s future. He’s a failed leader, a toxic figure, a pathological liar, and a racist. If the Republican Party continues to embrace him and what he represents, it shouldn’t and probably won’t win at the polls, and the right question to ask is whether it should even continue to exist.
By following Trump, Republicans have dug themselves into a deep hole, and they should now focus on what it will take to become a reputable political party again, capable of governing. That must begin with rejecting Trump and expelling Trumpism from their ideologies and agendas. Trump should never again be the face or voice of the Republican Party. They should encourage him to live out his remaining years on the golf links.
Related story: Former GOP House Speaker John Boehner speaks out about his party. He isn’t flattering. Read it here.