Tag: GOP now the cult of Trump

‘It’s a big lie’: Chris Wallace challenges GOPer for refusing to say election wasn’t ‘stolen’

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Fox News host Chris Wallace challenged Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) over his effort to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her leadership position in the Republican Party.

During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Wallace noted that Banks had deflected when asked about Cheney’s criticism of former President Donald Trump, who has claimed that the election was stolen from him.

“I’ve asked you two questions, Congressman,” Wallace said. “Why are you unwilling to discuss her criticism of President Trump?” Continue reading.

The GOP’s fact-free world threatens the survival of democracy

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The right-wing media apparatus, which is global in scale, has lately been making a fetish of something called “critical race theory” (CRT). This has prompted academics to defend it. It’s not a radical political ideology, they say. It’s merely a form of critical inquiry. It is not the boogeyman it’s being made out to be. There’s nothing to fear.

 understand the need to defend critical race theory. Colleges and universities are beset on one hand by Republican fascists accusing scholars of indoctrinating students, on the other by anti-left liberals accusing the same of hostility toward freedom of speech. Meanwhile, administrations act more like corporations that privilege efficiency over research and teaching. It’s enough to think CRT is an appropriate hill to die on.

 understand the need to defend critical race theory. Colleges and universities are beset on one hand by Republican fascists accusing scholars of indoctrinating students, on the other by anti-left liberals accusing the same of hostility toward freedom of speech. Meanwhile, administrations act more like corporations that privilege efficiency over research and teaching. It’s enough to think CRT is an appropriate hill to die on. Continue reading.

GOP’s Mo Brooks refusing to be served in Capitol riot lawsuit as ‘political stunt’: attorney

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Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) has refused to be served in a lawsuit over his role in inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to an attorney for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).

The California Democrat has sued President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani for their own roles in the Capitol insurrection, and the complaint also alleges that Brooks incited the riot with his speech ahead of the violent assault on the democratic process, reported Axios.

“We have been attempting to serve our complaint on Mo Brooks for more than a month,” Swalwell attorney Philip Andonian told Punchbowl News. Continue reading.

Arizona Republicans push back against Justice Department concerns, setting up possible clash over Maricopa County recount

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Arizona officials involved with a Republican-commissioned recount of the November presidential election in the state’s largest county on Thursday brushed off concerns raised by the Justice Department this week, raising the possibility of a clash between state and federal authorities over the audit.

Pamela S. Karlan, who heads the Justice Department’s civil rights division, wrote a letter to the president of the Arizona state Senate on Wednesday suggesting that the recount of nearly 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County by a private contractor may not comply with federal law, which requires that ballots be securely maintained for 22 months following a federal election.

“We have a concern that Maricopa County election records, which are required by federal law to be retained and preserved, are no longer under the ultimate control of elections officials, are not being adequately safeguarded by contractors, and are at risk of damage or loss,” she wrote. Continue reading.

In Turning on Liz Cheney, G.O.P. Bows to Trump’s Election Lies

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House Republicans were lobbying to replace Representative Liz Cheney, who has vocally called out Donald J. Trump’s lies, with Representative Elise Stefanik, who has embraced them.

WASHINGTON — Top Republicans moved swiftly on Wednesday to purge Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming from their leadership ranks for vocally rejecting Donald J. Trump’s election lies, laying the groundwork to install a replacement who has embraced his false claims of voting fraud.

The move to push out Ms. Cheney as the No. 3 House Republican in favor of Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, a Trump loyalist who voted to overturn President Biden’s victory in key states, reflected how thoroughly the party’s orthodoxy has come to be defined by fealty to the former president and a tolerance for misinformation, rather than policy principles.

“The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution,” Ms. Cheney wrote in a searing opinion piece published in the Washington Post on Wednesday evening. She framed her fate as a referendum on the party’s future and warned that Republicans must “steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic Trump cult of personality.” Continue reading.

Opinion: The GOP is at a turning point. History is watching us.

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Liz Cheney, a Republican, represents Wyoming’s at-large congressional district in the U.S. House.

In public statements again this week, former president Donald Trump has repeated his claims that the 2020 election was a fraud and was stolen. His message: I am still the rightful president, and President Biden is illegitimate. Trump repeats these words now with full knowledge that exactly this type of language provoked violence on Jan. 6. And, as the Justice Department and multiple federal judges have suggested, there is good reason to believe that Trump’s language can provoke violence again. Trump is seeking to unravel critical elements of our constitutional structure that make democracy work — confidence in the result of elections and the rule of law. No other American president has ever done this.

The Republican Party is at a turning point, and Republicans must decide whether we are going to choose truth and fidelity to the Constitution. In the immediate wake of the violence of Jan. 6, almost all of us knew the gravity and the cause of what had just happened — we had witnessed it firsthand.

House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) left no doubt in his public remarks. On the floor of the House on Jan. 13, McCarthy said: “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” Now, McCarthy has changed his story. Continue reading.

Gender politics hound GOP in Cheney drama

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House Republicans have a gender problem, and it is increasingly an issue as the drama around Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) engulfs the conference.

Republicans are actively plotting Cheney’s ouster as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference over her repeated criticisms of former President Trump, but doing so would remove the only woman on Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) leadership team.

It’s an awkward reality for a party vying to win back female suburban voters in next year’s midterm elections, at a time when there are fewer than three-dozen women in the 212-strong GOP conference. Continue reading.

Scoop: McCarthy trashes Cheney on hot mic

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he’s “lost confidence” in Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) during a moment of candor caught on a hot mic, a tapereviewed by Axios shows.

What he’s saying: “I think she’s got real problems,” McCarthy told Steve Doocy off-air ahead of a live “Fox and Friends” interview. “I’ve had it with … I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence. … Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place.”

  • The comments, made amid seeming cross-talk with Doocy, outlined how the House conference chair could be removed by a vote from the chamber’s Republican members. Continue reading.

Allies of GOP leader vow to oust Liz Cheney

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Top allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are vowing to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the harshest critics of former President Trump in either party, from her leadership post by the end of the month.

They argue that the No. 3 Republican has repeatedly contradicted McCarthy and his team, undermining the party’s message and its efforts to take back the House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

“There is no way that Liz will be conference chair by month’s end,” one key McCarthy ally told The Hill on Monday. “When there is a vote, it won’t be a long conference; it will be fast. Everyone knows the outcome.” Continue reading.