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Just two weeks ago, Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy found Donald Trump guilty in the deadly attack on the US Capitol. On Thursday, he was seeking his political support.
A private meeting between the two men at Trump’s resort town of Mar-a-Lago marked a remarkable turnaround in the former president’s stature among elected Republicans. In the aftermath of the Trump-inspired insurgencyThe idea that he would enjoy some sort of kingmaker role in his post-presidency seemed highly unlikely.
But following a first wave of condemnation, Republicans appear to be warming up to Trump, fully aware that his supporters are on the verge of punishing anyone who shows disloyalty. With that in mind, party leaders are working to keep Trump in the fold as they focus on taking over the House and Senate in 2022.
“United and ready to win in 22,” McCarthy tweeted after their meeting. He and Trump have both issued statements outlining their commitment to work together to help Republicans regain control of the House and Senate in 2022.
The realignment with Trump comes as those who have crossed paths with him continue to feel the burn. Trump ally Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, spent the day in Wyoming trying to defeat Rep. Liz Cheney, House Republican No.3, who voted for Trump’s impeachment. Amid the backlash, Senate Republicans have made it widely known this week that they have no plans to condemn Trump.
As Trump tries to exert influence, he is undeniably diminished.
Before urging his supporters to storm Capitol Hill, Trump was expected to spend his post-presidency happily settling scores with his Republican rivals, initiating a Twitter-fueled successor pullout and running again for a second. mandate. Now he is largely isolated and silenced by social media platforms as President Joe Biden tries to dismantle his agenda by executive order..
He has not been seen in public since he disappeared behind the manicured hedges of Mar-a-Lago last Wednesday, half an hour before his presidency ended. He has spent his days consulting assistants and defense attorneys as he prepares for his historic second impeachment trial..
Things are very different now. Last time around, Trump had an army of supporters that included a team of Washington lawyers, a presidential communications store, a taxpayer-funded White House attorney’s office, and unwavering support from top Republicans, including the Republican National Committee.
This time, Trump is still working to assemble a legal team, with the trial being less than two weeks away.
“I think he’s at a significant disadvantage,” said criminal defense attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was on Trump’s legal team in 2020 but is one of the long list of lawyers who don’t. do not.
Yet even the impeachment trial, once seen as an opportunity for Republicans in the Senate to purge Trump of the party by banning him from running again, is now being used as a rallying cry to unite the party against the Democrats. Instead of questioning whether he is guilty of “deliberately inciting violence against the United States government,” Republicans have instead attacked the process, arguing that it is unconstitutional to try a president who has already left the United States. White House.
“At a time when our country needs to come together, Democrats in Congress are resuming the same strategy they have employed over the past four years: a politically motivated overtaking that will only divide us further,” said the Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel It came after sharp internal divisions over whether the group should publicly criticize Trump for inciting the riot.
In an interview, McDaniel declined to criticize the five Republican senators who voted this week to go ahead with the trial. But she said, “It’s more important to watch the 45 who said it was ridiculous.”
Outside of the trial, Trump gradually began to return to public conversation, issuing press releases from the political committee he created before leaving the White House.
“He decompresses. He has a legal team that he’s trying to organize, and he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing, ”said Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close congressional ally who has helped Trump to build a legal team after many firms got it wrong. .
“I think there is an adjustment,” said Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union and another Trump ally.
Jason Miller, an adviser to Trump, insisted it was “too early” to discuss the president’s impeachment strategy and the post-presidential political operation that is expected to include the former House political director Blanche Brian Jack and former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien.
“We’ve had discussions about where we want to be active in regards to midterms 2022 and how we’re helping Republicans win back the Senate and the House,” Miller said, but Trump has yet to decide. ‘he will get involved in the primary races. to challenge Republicans who voted to impeach him.
After those members faced intense backlash from Trump supporters, Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in an attempt to dismiss his second impeachment trial.
“I think it’s pretty clear that Republican voters are adamantly opposed to impeachment and Republicans who vote impeachment are doing so at their own risk,” Miller said.
Despite the riot on Capitol Hill, polls show Trump remains deeply popular among Republican voters – many of whom now see themselves as more closely linked to him than the party.
“It’s not so much Trump that they’re trying to cuddle. It’s the Trump base they are trying to hug, ”said Alex Conant, a Republican strategist. “I think Trump’s departure left a huge void. He was the one thing that united Republicans more than anything. I mean, the Republican Party became the Trump Party for four years. And without him, there’s an obvious power vacuum, and I think you see that playing out in Congress now.
The question is whether Trump’s influence will last. The internal divisions his team fosters could ultimately undermine the party’s quest to take over Congress. And it’s unclear if he can transfer his personal popularity to other candidates when he’s not on the ballot. Republicans lost control of the House in 2018 and abandoned the Senate this month despite a last-minute call from Trump.
Graham, who said this month he was done with Trump – “All I can say is count myself. Enough is enough. ”- has since stressed the importance of keeping the party united.
“I want to make sure the Republican Party can grow up and come back, and we’re going to need Trump and Trump needs us,” he told reporters.
As for Republicans who vote to condemn Trump, “I guess it depends on what state you’re in and what stage of your career,” he joked.
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Associated Press editors Eric Tucker in Washington and Steve Peoples in New York contributed to this report.
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