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Republican senators said Thursday that a representative of Trump's anonymous administration, criticizing the president, would turn against him by encouraging Trump and proving to his supporters that the school was trying to end his program.
The anonymous column in the New York Times on Wednesday described a culture of "quiet resistance" to the president inside the White House, his aides knowingly ignoring or subtly blocking his decisions when they deemed him dangerous.
He caused a political storm of fire and drew the immediate wrath of the president. Trump tweeted that it was "GUTLESS" and demanded that the Times "send him back immediately to the government".
[‘The sleeper cells have awoken’: Trump and aides shaken by ‘resistance’ op-ed]
Yet high-ranking GOP legislators have rejected the idea that the opposition would have negative consequences for Trump, insisting instead that it would help it at the mid-point and in the 2020 presidential election. They argued that the editorial emphasized the president's assessment that the institution was trying to block its agenda with tactics that do not appeal to average voters.
"If he wins in 2020, a lot of people will go crazy. But I think things like that help him. This reinforces the notion that this place is a cesspool and if you try to change location, the marsh creatures will pick you up. It really helps, "said Senator Lindsey O. Graham (R-C) in an interview. "In South Carolina, when the New York Times speaks, most people do not listen."
Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) At Capitol last week. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)
Asked if he was concerned about internal dissidence in the White House, Graham, who recently became one of Trump's most fervent supporters, said, "I do not know how deep it is. Trump can be a handful, but the bottom line is that the people around him make him a successful president. It's a collaboration that translates into good policy. "
[[[[In the midst of McCain's death and the tumult of Woodward's book, Graham goes to Trump's defense]
Other Republicans have described the writer as the renegade editorialist, whose anonymous status undermined all credibility.
"The intention is to hurt the president, so that everyone thinks he's a bad guy," said Senator James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.). "All I thought when I saw it for the first time, is that it has the effect of helping the president. People will look at it and leave: "The worst case is that there is someone who is making war."
Senator John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) Acknowledged that anonymous supply would drive voters away: "Here, anonymity is very common among the crowd of cultured, cosmopolitan and DC people who live in condos with highs. ceilings and walls. It's the common currency here. "
"The attitude of the average American is:" If you make such an allegation, have the oranges to record them. Look at the person in the eye, tell them what you think. Do not do it anonymously. "It can hurt journalism more than the president."
Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that an anonymous editorial had no credibility.
"I think I want to know who says what before making a judgment," Grassley said.
The anonymous account was published a day after details of a forthcoming Bob Woodward book, "Fear," painted a similar portrait of the White House, with many officials ignoring Trump's orders.
The publication of the editorial fueled speculation about its source, and on Thursday morning a stream of senior administration officials denied having written the column, including Vice President Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
[Pence and a growing cast of other Trump officials deny writing the Times op-ed]
Many GOP responses corresponded to a familiar pattern of the Trump presidency, with Republicans repelling Trump's criticism for his record. "My approach on these things is to ignore the political circus and focus on the substance," said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.). "And on the bottom, we are getting a huge amount accomplished for the American people."
Senator Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the editorial highlighted the issues of loyalty among staff members more than Trump's shortcomings.
"I do not really know what's going on in the White House. . . but it seems to me that outside this open zone, there is no confidentiality and not a lot of loyalty with many people, "he said. "Whatever the president, they need loyalty."
Some Democratic lawmakers agreed that the controversy would toughen Trump's views about those who seek to block his agenda, but they disagreed with the fact that it would increase his popularity.
"Everything drives him crazy. All makes him angry. All of it rocking inward, all the critics, "said Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio). "Yes, it reinforces his view that the world is ready to reach it. But with time, its base narrows.
Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), A virulent critic of Trump, said that the account would have no effect on one or the other party because voters already knew the nature President's temperament: situation of the first day. . . . Nothing new has happened. Nothing."
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