All seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump are facing backlash, either from voters at large, voters in their own states, and their own state Republican parties.
That includes Sen. Bill Cassidy from the very reliably red state of Louisiana.
For some bizarro reason, Cassidy broke ranks with the majority in his party and decided it was not only constitutional to impeach a president who has already left office (despite there being nothing in the Constitution providing the Senate with that authority), but he also decided that Trump was responsible for inciting a riot that was preplanned and carried out by people who specifically went to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to make trouble.
***News Junkie? Stay Informed With Our FREE Mobile App***
In a Sunday with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week,” the Louisiana Republican repeated his description of insurrection “as an attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of power.”
“People still tell me they think Dominion rigged those machines with Hugo Chavez from Venezuela. That is not true and all the news organizations that promoted have retracted,” Cassidy said.
“He then scheduled the rally for January the sixth, just when the transfer of power was to take place, and he brought together a crowd, but a portion of that was transformed into a mob. And when they went into the Capitol, it was clear he wished lawmakers be intimidated,” Cassidy continued.
NEW: GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of seven Senate Republicans who voted to convict former Pres. Trump in his second impeachment trial, explains his decision: "It was clear that he wished that lawmakers be intimidated." https://t.co/LbWAhHV6RV pic.twitter.com/BIt601esB4
— ABC News (@ABC) February 14, 2021
Yes, well, when Democrats were questioning the reliability of Dominion’s machines, somehow that managed to escape the scorn and ridicule now reserved for the former president. And let’s make sure to avoid the entire subject of using electronic voting platforms subject to hacking and manipulation instead of paper ballots that leave a paper trail.
But Cassidy’s tortured explanations really took a turn into the abyss when he appeared to suggest that the Republican Party was most responsible for creating the country’s monster pre-COVID economy — not Trump’s economic and trade policies.
“I think his force wanes,” Cassidy told Stephanopoulos in response to a question about whether Trump remains in control of the GOP (hint: Yes, he does).
But then he said this:
The Republican Party is more than just one person. The Republican Party is about ideas. We were the party that was founded to end slavery. We were the party that preserved the union. We were the party that passed the first civil rights law. We were the party that ended the Cold War. We are the party that before COVID, had an economy that had record low unemployment for everyone, the disabled, the high school dropout, the veteran, the woman, the black, the Hispanic, you name it.
Now the American people want those ideas, but they want a leader who is accountable and a leader who they can trust. I think our leadership will be different going forward, but it will still be with those ideas.
What’s this “we” business, senator?
Let’s get something straight: The only principle influence Republicans had on the 2017-2019 economic boom was the passage of tax cuts, and those came at the end of 2017. Before then the GOP majority refused to give Trump money for a promised border wall, money for infrastructure, and a repeal of Obamacare — all things Republicans said they backed for years before Trump’s 2016 victory.
The Trump economy boomed because of his trade deals and renegotiations; his ‘America first’ policy of energy independence; his anti-regulatory policies; and his administration’s creation of economic opportunity zones. The only thing ‘the Republican Party’ did was not get in Trump’s way, though many wanted to.
***BRAND NEW Trump 2024 Hat Is Your FREE – Just Cover Shipping!***
The vast majority of Americans who supported (and continue to support) Donald Trump supported his economic agenda, not the ‘Republican Party’ agenda — which, strangely, mirrored Trump’s until he managed to win the White House.
Trump voters support him before they support a party with a faction of members who are trying to abandon him over a phony ‘insurrection’ allegation while they attempt to rewrite history so they can steal his successes.
The former president’s voters, many of whom are your voters, senator, aren’t stupid. Treat them that way at your electoral peril.
