Trump Aides Aim To Build Gop Opposition To Afghan Refugees
WASHINGTON As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban arrive in the U.S., a handful of former Trump administration officials are working to turn Republicans against them.
The former officials are writing position papers, appearing on conservative television outlets and meeting privately with GOP lawmakers all in an effort to turn the collapse of Afghanistan into another opportunity to push a hard-line immigration agenda.
It is a collaboration based on mutual conviction, said Stephen Miller, the architect of President Donald Trumps most conservative immigration policies and among those engaged on the issue. My emphasis has been in talking to members of Congress to build support for opposing the Biden administrations overall refugee plans.
The approach isnt embraced by all Republican leaders, with some calling it mean-spirited and at odds with Christian teachings that are important to the white evangelicals who play a critical role in the partys base. The strategy relies on tactics that were commonplace during Trumps tenure and that turned off many voters, including racist tropes, fear-mongering and false allegations.
And the hard-liners pay little heed to the human reality unfolding in Afghanistan, where those who worked with Americans during the war and many others are desperate to flee for fear they could be killed by the new Taliban regime.
This Retiring Republican Just Handed More Power To Donald Trump
I dont believe he can ever be president again, Gonzalez told The New York Times of Trump. Most of my political energy will be spent working on that exact goal. Of the broader GOP, Gonzalez said. politically the environment is so toxic, especially in our own party right now.
Know what else is true? That Gonzalez, by retiring from Congress, hands Trump yet another win, a further demonstration that crossing the former president always ends badly for those who do it.
Gonzalez, a former star wide receiver at Ohio State University, was widely seen as a rising star in the party both in the state and nationally when he was elected in 2018. But unlike the vast majority of his House Republican colleagues, Gonzalez never gave over to the utter fealty demanded by Trump. And in the wake of the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach the President.
Gonzalezs decision to walk away rather than fight back will be taken a win by Trump and his forces. In fact, the president was already busy taking a victory lap Friday morning.
So while Gonzalezs retirement is being touted in some circles as an act of principle, the practical political effect of his decision is the opposite.
Weve learned the wrong lesson as a party, Gonzalez told the Times, but beyond that, and more importantly, its horribly irresponsible and destructive for the country.
His retirement empowers those irresponsible and destructive forces.
Republicans Who Voted To Convict Trump Face Censure At Home
North Carolina Senator Richard Burr is the latest to be censured by local Republicans for his impeachment trial vote.
State Republican leaders in North Carolina voted to censure Senator Richard Burr over his vote to convict Donald Trump during last weeks impeachment trial, making Burr the latest to be rebuked for opposing the former United States president.
Burr, a third-term North Carolina Republican who has said he does not plan to seek re-election in 2022, was one of just seven out of 50 Republican senators to vote to convict Trump for inciting his supporters January 6 attack on Congress, which left five people dead.
The North Carolina Republican Party Central Committee voted unanimously to censure Burr, saying it agrees with the strong majority of Republicans that the effort lies outside the United States Constitution.
Trumps second Senate impeachment trial concluded on Saturday with a 57-43 vote in favour of convicting. The tally fell short of the two-thirds needed to secure conviction.
North Carolina Republican Chairman Michael Whatley condemned Burr for voting against the former president, calling the move a shocking and disappointing abdication of his duty to voters.
The Central Committee of the released a statement following their unanimous vote to censure Senator Richard Burr for his impeachment vote. #ncpol#ncgov#ncsen
NCGOP
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Trump Calls For ‘no Violence’ As Congress Moves To Impeach Him For Role In Riot
This time, there will be more. Some Republican senators have called on Trump to resign, and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is undecided at this point.
Trump’s impeachment won’t lead to his removal even if he is convicted because of the timeline. The Senate is adjourned until Tuesday. The next day, Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president. But there’s another penalty the Constitution allows for as a result of a Senate conviction that could be appealing to some Republican senators banning Trump from holding “office” again.
While there is some debate as to the definition of “office” in the Constitution and whether that would apply to running for president or even Congress, that kind of public rebuke would send a strong message that Republicans are ready to move on from Trumpism.
Republican Leaders Start Making Sense Although In Small Numbers
Joe Biden won Michigan in the 2020 elections by a large margin. Despite this, the Republican leaders led an investigation trying to find discrepancies in the election but found nothing.
Michigans GOP-led Senate is now all against Donald Trump. Michigans Senate Republicans issued a report calling Trump claims outright deception.;
Even though state Republicans have rebutted Donald Trump, they continue to support new voting laws in the State. This depicts that voter suppression is not only a Trump priority but the Republicans agenda.
Then came the heroics of the former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who co-authored a report about the Arizona election recount and criticized it, saying the contractors were inexperienced and unqualified.
Trumps former attorney general William Barr, a hardline supporter of Donald Trump, who was forced to resign due to his failure of unfolding the Hunter Biden controversy before elections, also criticized Trump to a large extent. The erstwhile ally of Trump heavily criticized Trumps claims saying, It was all bullshit.
If a highly conservative Republican like Barr is not buying the theories of Trump, the ideas must have something controversial in them.
Texas and Florida governors are the in full motion to promote Trumps America first vision in their respective state with voter suppression laws, anti-immigration rhetoric and enhancing guns rights
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Trump Celebrates Retirement Of Gop Congressman Who Voted For His Impeachment
Former President Donald Trump celebrated the retirement of a Republican congressman who voted for his impeachment, as the GOP continues its purge of those who have pushed back against lies surrounding the 2020 election.
Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio, told the New York Times he would not be running for reelection in 2022, citing threats to his family and a tough primary race against a Trump White House aide challenging him who has the former presidents endorsement.
I dont believe he can ever be president again, Gonzalez told the Times, referring to Trump. Most of my political energy will be spent working on that exact goal.
The outgoing congressman, who turns 37 this week, called Trump a cancer for the country.
Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for his role in the violence of Jan. 6. He is the first of those Republican lawmakers to announce his retirement.
A former star wide receiver at Ohio State University, Gonzalez said in a Jan. 13 statement after his vote that Trump helped organize and incite a mob that attacked Congress and abandoned his post while many members asked for help, thus endangering all present.
In the immediate aftermath of the vote, Jim Renacci, chair of the Medina County Republican Party in Ohio, told BuzzFeed News he was slammed with residents calling for Anthony Gonzalez to step down, be recalled, and/or primaried.
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In Gop Poll From Hell Republicans Say They Want Donald Trump Jr To Be President In 2024
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A recurring nightmare among millions of Americans is that come 2024, Donald Trump will forget the fact that he actually hated being president, decide to run again, and win. Seriously, can you think of a more horrifying scenario, except perhaps falling through a sidewalk into a rat-filled chasm,;which some people might still prefer? We maintain that you cannot. But an equally terrifying, skin-crawling situation would definitely be to turn on the TV on January 20, 2025, and see Donald Trump Jr. being sworn in as president of the United States, which a number of Republican voters apparently actually want to happen.
The poll, which was conducted between July 6 and 8, did not include Donald Trump Senior, who maintains an inexplicable grip on voters despite the mass-death stuff, an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and a mental state that suggests he should be in a home or studied by a team of Swiss doctors.
And the fact that Don Jr. came out on top is not where the scary news ends. Because apparently if Republicans cant have Sheep Killer over here, their second-favorite choice is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, the man currently responsible for this:
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Richard Burr North Carolina
Burr, who has said he will not seek re-election, had previously voted to dismiss the impeachment trial on constitutional grounds. Burr’s term expires in 2022.
“I have listened to the arguments presented by both sides and considered the facts. The facts are clear,” explained Burr in a statement.
“By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States,” he explained, adding that he didn’t come to “this decision lightly.”
Supreme Court Goes Bonkers So Do Republican Governors
Nonetheless, those in influential Republican circles, who are actually in a position to bring Donald Trump to justice, are still mostly denying the admission of his guilt.;
The reluctance to establish a January 6 commission is a classic example in this regard.
The Republicans bid to entertain voter suppression laws in different states, following Trumps footprints, also decries the same.
While Democrats control the White House and the national legislature, Republican governors in different red states are introducing sweeping measures to second his agenda.
Republican governors such as Greg Abbott from Texas and Ron DeSantis from Florida are as conservative as Trump. Recently, the Texas governor signed seven laws, enhancing gun possession laws, proclaiming to protect the second amendment.
The Florida governor also banned local government officials from further regulating guns in the state.
Expansion of guns rights is not the only way the governors are trying to please the former Republican president.
In fact, their policy approaches towards immigration, social media, and voter suppression laws also depict their will to compromise the national interest at the expense of promoting conservatism.
The top US justices of the United States are also playing their part to extend conservatism at the national scale.;
The top bench, manned by Donald Trump, recently failed to protect the voting rights of marginalized groups.
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Will Not Support Trumps Re
Former President George W. Bush: Although he has not spoken about whom he will vote for in November, people familiar with Mr. Bushs thinking have said it wont be Mr. Trump. Mr. Bush did not endorse him in 2016.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah: Mr. Romney has long been critical of Mr. Trump, and was the only Republican senator to vote to convict him during his impeachment trial. Mr. Romney is still mulling over whom he will vote for in November he opted for his wife, Ann, four years ago but he is said to be sure it wont be the president.
John Bolton, the former national security adviser: As he rolled out his recently published book, The Room Where It Happened, Mr. Bolton said in multiple interviews that he would not vote for Mr. Trump in November. He added that he would write in the name of a conservative Republican, but that he was not sure which one.
Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont: Mr. Scott has said multiple times this summer that he will not be voting for the president, a position that he also took in 2016. He says he has not yet decided whether or not he will vote for Mr. Biden.
William H. McRaven, a retired four-star Navy admiral: Several Republican admirals and generals have publicly announced they will not support the president. In an interview with The New York Times, Admiral McRaven, who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said, This fall, its time for new leadership in this country Republican, Democrat or independent.
Gop Leader Mccarthy: Trump ‘bears Responsibility’ For Violence Won’t Vote To Impeach
Some ambitious Republican senators have never been as on board the Trump train as the more feverish GOP members in the House, and the former might be open to convicting Trump. But their ambition cuts two ways on the one hand, voting to ban Trump opens a lane to carry the Republican mantle in 2024 and be the party’s new standard-bearer, but, on the other, it has the potential to alienate many of the 74 million who voted for Trump, and whose votes they need.
It’s a long shot that Trump would ultimately be convicted, because 17 Republicans would need to join Democrats to get the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. But it’s growing clearer that a majority of the Senate will vote to convict him, reflecting the number of Americans who are in favor of impeachment, disapproved of the job Trump has done and voted for his opponent in the 2020 presidential election.
Correction Jan. 14, 2021
A previous version of this story incorrectly said Rep. Peter Meijer is a West Point graduate. Meijer attended West Point, but he is a graduate of Columbia University.
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Gop Primary Challengers Line Up Against Texas Gov Abbott Despite Trumps Endorsement Yahoo News
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has $55 million banked for his re-election campaign, a 73 percent approval rating among Republicans, and an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
And, thanks to restrictive abortion and voting bills Abbott has signed in recent months, Texas has become an epicenter of the national conservative causes that rally the GOP base.
None of that, though, has stopped a crop of critics including Allen West, a former Florida congressman with a right-wing following who briefly served as the Texas GOP chairman from announcing plans to challenge Abbott in next years primary.
Their complaint isnt so much that Abbott is not a conservative. Its that hes not the hard-line conservative they believe that Texans crave particularly when compared with some Republican peers and their hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hes not Ron DeSantis, and hes not Kristi Noem, one veteran of Texas GOP politics said, referencing the governors of Florida and South Dakota whove upped their national profiles by resisting extended lockdowns, mask and vaccine mandates and other restrictions to limit the spread of Covid.
Story continues
They dont have any money, they dont have any fundraising ability, said John Wittman, Abbotts former communications director who now runs a public affairs firm in Austin. They are all fighting over the same 10 to 12 percent of Republican primary voters.
The primary challengers have other grievances.
Republicans Voting For Mrs Clinton
- Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state
- Ex-President George HW Bush
- Richard Hanna, New York congressman
- Hank Paulson, former treasury secretary
- Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser
- Chris Shays, former Connecticut congressman
- Meg Whitman, prominent Republican donor; CEO of Hewlett Packard
- William Bennett, former secretary of education
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Here Are All Of The House Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Donald Trump
Ten members of the GOP joined with Democrats in the vote.
President Donald Trump impeached for ‘incitement of insurrection’
The House of Representatives has voted to impeach President Donald Trump — making him the only president in American history to be impeached twice.
Unlike his first impeachment in 2019, 10 Republicans joined Democrats to charge Trump for the “incitement of insurrection” for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol with a final vote of 232-197.
Some Republicans may have feared for their own safety if they voted for impeachment, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of those who voted against Trump, said. Kinzinger told ABC’s “Powerhouse Politics” podcast that some members of his party are likely holding back from voting for impeachment due to fear of highlighting their own participation in supporting the president’s false claims of election fraud.
Democrat Jason Crow, of Colorado, relayed similar thoughts in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday morning.
“I had a lot of conversations with my Republican colleagues last night, and a couple of them broke down in tears talking to me and saying that they are afraid for their lives if they vote for this impeachment,” he said.
Here is a list of the 10 Republicans who took a stance against Trump:
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.“It’s not going to be some ‘Kumbaya moment’ on the floor — it’s going to be an awakening by the American people to hold their leaders accountable to their rhetoric,”
