Here Comes The Split
The family feud within the national Republican Party is now on full display, between what is in essence the Trump Wing vs. the Non-Trump Wing.
A day after a Trump-endorsed candidate lost a U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia, there were plenty of folks in the formerly mainstream media and the left side of the political aisle tying the loss to Trump and predicting the end of his influence on politics. That, of course, was expected.
What was a bit surprising was the public nature of comments by some key Republicans, parroting the same line. Former Trump Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney posted a rather pointed tweet: “Trump has now lost 4 races in Georgia in two years. One of his own and 3 by proxy. Similar stories in AZ and PA. He has a swing-state problem for 2024 that is real. Again: those who win primaries, and lose general elections, are still losers.”
Mulvaney and Trump did have a falling out late in the administration, so maybe that’s not a huge surprise. How about South Dakota U.S. Senator John Thune, though…he said Trump’s “obsession with the 2020 election became an albatross and a real liability” for candidates in the midterms.
Now again, you expect that out of the left…but these are high profile Republicans, one currently in leadership in the U.S. Senate.
Add to that the fact that Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona is continuing his fight against California’s Kevin McCarthy on who ought to be the next Speaker of the House. No Democrats will support McCarthy, meaning he can only lose four Republicans in order to get the gavel. How many can Biggs pull along with him? And if McCarthy is not the choice…who will be? Who can be a compromise candidate who can get 218 votes?
You’ve heard some of the national hosts on this station argue that this is no time for GOP in-fighting…they should just put McCarthy in place and get on with it, reserving the right to put someone else in there later. I get that, but I also get that the GOP House cannot fail, and whoever gives them the best shot at success should be put in place, even if it’s a little messy now.
Then again, this feels a lot like six years ago when the GOP-majority House passed bills and the GOP-majority Senate failed to act. Hardly a unified approach to governing or success.
Regardless, anyone who feels good about a unified Republican party going into 2023 had better take another look…this is a family feud that is only growing, with no end in sight.
