Donald Trump, to an act in January. The former president gets support in his party. Photo: AFP
Everything slips for Donald Trump and nothing, at least for now, seems to hurt him too much. Neither the lie of the electoral fraud, nor the assault on Congress, nor the impeachment attempts, nor the investigations, nor the raid on his home, nor the multiple trials that torment him.
But not only does he seem immune to all those burdens: the most controversial former president in modern US history today takes revenge on his enemies and wins more weight every day within the Republican Party, with a string of victories for their candidates in their organization’s internal elections that every day it radicalises, to the desperation of the moderates.
A little more than two months before the legislative elections in November, a single fact proves that the tycoon is alive and thirsty for revenge. Eight of the 10 Republican lawmakers who voted against him in impeachment for his role in the assault on Capitol Hill are out of the political race today.
Four renounced re-election because their chances were nil, and another four lost the election to Trump-backed candidates. Only two survived internally, but they were outspoken and not just Republicans.
“The Republican Party, at least its main constituency, appears to be for Trump today,” he said Clarione Michael Kennedy, Professor of Sociology and Public and International Affairs at Brown University.
The fight of Liz Cheney
One of the tycoon’s most symbolic triumphs was the defeat of Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Wyoming against Trump-backed Harriet Hageman.
Cheney is the vice president of the legislative commission that investigates the Trump mafia attack on January 6 last year and has become the singing voice of the Republicans who challenged the former president.
For Trump the role of Cheney is unforgivable and therefore she was expelled from the leadership of her caucus in the lower house and even had to travel accompanied by an armed Capitol policeman for the threats against you.
Cheney was clear that her position would likely mark the end of her political career in Congress and sent a very strong message when she was defeated on Tuesday.
As one of the country’s leading anti-Trump figures, he said so Rated in the running for presidency in 2024 to curb the possibility of Trump returning to the White House.
“We need to be clear about the threat we face and what we need to defeat it. I have said since January 6 that I will do whatever it takes to prevent Donald Trump from ever getting closer to the Oval Office. “
Although the tycoon has not yet confirmed that he will race, Cheney’s launch could represent a serious obstacle to his ambitions because it could take votes away from the more moderate and anti-Trump conservativesespecially if you are running as an independent candidate.
“Cheney was prepared for his defeat and has raised a substantial amount of money to defeat Trump in the years to come, whether he runs for president in the Republican primary, or even as an independent, no one knows yet, not even her.. But he’s dedicated to it. Trump’s political ruin, “Kennedy said.
If she competes within the party, even if she doesn’t have much chance of winning an internal one, “Trump’s other rivals, especially Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, would like to see her beat the former president in debates so they don’t. “. I don’t have to do that, “says the expert.
“His most honorable mission would be to campaign not only against Trump at all times, but also against his incompetent and dangerous acolytes who spread the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him.”
at the center of attention
Meanwhile, the controversial former head of the White House is happy because he has been making headlines in recent days, especially with the FBI raid on his home in Mar a Lago, where they seized a dozen boxes with confidential documents that are were abducted from the presidency without permission.
Trump described this action as a conspiracy by federal forces, Democrats and the judiciary and initially managed to persuade all of the party’s leaders and candidates to stand up for him, even those who tried to keep their distance.
According to a Politico poll, Trump jumped 10 points in his intention to vote on his Republican rival Ron DeSantis after the raid.
When the level of sensitivity of these documents became known, some were said to have been contained nuclear secrets– Some Republicans have not been as expansive in supporting Trump anymore, mainly because they are so zealous on national security issues.
There may be some limitations here. But the ground remains in turmoil because the former president’s narrative is that the federal judicial conspiracy threatens not only him but all Americans.
For now, Trump is sailing very calmly and raising funds for his cause. At one point it was speculated that he could launch his presidential candidacy even before the legislative elections in November, but the initiative could be postponed.
This was explained by Samuel Issacharoff, a lawyer and professor of constitutional law at New York University Clarione that “United States laws on campaign financing make it much more profitable for Trump not to run because all the funds he collects right now goes into his pocket. When he shows up as a candidate, he ends up.
The raid, Issacharoff points out, was useful for the tycoon in this regard. “I think what happened in Florida with the documents helps him to organize himself as the center of attention to raise funds, for reasons related to his ego or whatever reason he has, but this serves to victimize himself and not come forward, at least for now, formally as a candidate ”.
Now Trump prefers to focus on November, supporting candidates to reach Congress and radicalizing his speech against abortion, drug trafficking and immigration.
However, warns Kennedy, “While Trump may dominate the Republican base, that doesn’t mean his candidates will do well in the general election. Some have been embarrassing, even for Trump supporters, most notably Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Senate race, Herschel Walker in Georgia and, to a lesser extent, JD Vance in Ohio. “
All this, “combined with the general alienation of the moderates in the face of the Supreme Court attack on reproductive health (turning Roe v. Wade), could lead to a better performance for President Joe Biden’s party than one would half expect. term election ”, he concludes.
Washington, correspondent
CB
Paola Lugone
Source: Clarin
