Senate Republicans Distance Themselves From Donald Trump After Voting To Acquit Him
Republicans in the U.S. Senate no longer view former President Donald Trump as the leader of the GOP, according to a Sunday report from The Hill.
Several GOP senators told the publication they believe it is time to move on, now that Trump has been acquitted on a charge of incitement of insurrection against the U.S. government.
Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, who was one of the seven GOP lawmakers to vote to convict Trump, said that history will not remember the former commander-in-chief fondly.
“He’ll be remembered throughout history as the president who resorted to non-legal steps to try to hold on to power,” Toomey stated.
“He’s made it pretty difficult to gain support,” Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said of Trump, adding that Trump’s base is “shrinking” and will continue to do so.
Mike Braun suggested the same, noting that Trump should carefully consider what to do next.
“I am more concerned about how we rebuild the party in a way that brings in more people to it,” he said.
South Dakota Republican John Thune said that nobody can justify or defend Trump’s behavior in the days leading up to the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. He opined that the time has come for a new conservative leader to emerge.
“The floor is starting to open a little bit now. Certainly it seems clear that the former president wants to continue to have a role but I think there’s going to be opportunities for new leaders to emerge who can articulate new vision.”
John Cornyn of Texas echoed these remarks, saying that groundwork is being laid “by other people who aspire to succeed” the former commander-in-chief as head of the Republican Party.
James Inhofe of Oklahoma added that there is already fierce “competition” for the role of the leader, while Marco Rubio of Florida refused to discuss Trump’s flirtation with running again in 2024.
Even former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley recently condemned Trump’s behavior and called on Republican leaders to distance themselves from him.
But Trump is not going away, it seems.
On Saturday evening, he said that his movement will continue to grow, while members of his legal defense team took a victory lap, touting the acquittal as proof that the former commander-in-chief did nothing wrong.
Polling suggests that he is still incredibly popular with conservative voters. As The Inquisitr reported, a recent Hill-HarrisX poll found that 64 percent of registered Republicans would likely join a Trump-led party.
