I thought I wanted the GOP to win the Georgia runoffs. I thought we needed a check on Biden’s worst impulses. But if Republicans are going to use their Senate majority to continue the cult of Trump, they deserve to lose. And if this Axios story (warning: three days old; moldy punditry is good punditry!) is to be believed, that’s exactly what they have in mind:
Republicans are making plans to torpedo some of President-elect Biden’s prospective Cabinet, agency and judicial nominees if the GOP keeps its majority, aides involved in the discussions tell me.
What we’re hearing: Top targets include political names and civil servants who spoke out loudest against President Trump, forced out his appointees or became stars in the impeachment hearings — like Sally Yates and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — as well as longtime targets of conservative media, like Susan Rice.
Now, I have not heard that Alexander Vindman has been nominated to anything — although it is my belief that Biden should re-hire Vindman, Chris Krebs, and another unfairly fired figures. (I think Biden should revoke Jared Kushner’s security clearance as well, but that’s another discussion for another day.) But the idea that the GOP is going to continue to be motivated by petty personal Trump beefs even after Trump is gone is further evidence that the capture of the party is complete.
Right now, as we speak, the party is busy working to cost itself the runoffs by convincing voters that the election was stolen from Trump, which will have the effect of either demotivaing them to show up in January, or positively refusing to vote for the GOP senators in some kind of weird supposed payback for God knows what.
President Donald Trump’s lies about the election being stolen from him are having an unintended consequence: There are now members of his base who are advocating for Republicans not to vote in the Georgia runoff for two vital Senate seats.
. . . .
A faction of Trump’s base — including a PAC with ties to Roger Stone — has taken Trump’s conspiracy-mongering and attacks on Kemp and Raffensperger as a call to sit out the runoffs. Those rumblings have been significant enough that on Monday, Donald Trump Jr. felt compelled to weigh in with a tweet in which he dismissed talk of withholding votes from Perdue and Loeffler as “NONSENSE,” adding, “We need ALL of our people coming out to vote for Kelly & David.” . . . The irony, however, is that the Trump fans Don Jr. admonished are simply taking their cues from his father, who continues to push baseless conspiracy theories about the election being stolen from him even after he halfheartedly endorsed the General Services Administration’s move on Monday night to officially begin the transition to Biden.
Indeed, I realized this morning that any GOP candidate for president in 2024 is going to feel obligated to pay lip service to the idea that Biden stole the election from Trump. Anyone who pointedly refuses to do so will lose the insane chunk of Trump’s base — a large enough chunk to sink anyone’s chances. And since I can’t vote for anyone who pretends this election was stolen, I will likely be unable to vote GOP again in 2024.
Let me know when y’all want to grow up and be adults again, GOP politicians. Until then, I will remain out.
