Posted on 02/15/2021 5:38:29 AM PST by Red Badger
KEY POINTS The seven Republican senators who joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol are now facing heat in their home states.
Party leaders and local GOP officials, many seeking to curry favor with the broad swath of conservative voters still loyal to Trump, have condemned the 7 lawmakers for breaking ranks with the rest of the party.
The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump on Saturday in a 57-43 vote after an unprecedented second impeachment trial.
========================================================
The seven Republican senators who joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot in the Capitol are now facing heat from conservatives in their home states.
Party leaders and local GOP officials, many seeking to curry favor with the broad swath of conservative voters still loyal to Trump, have condemned the 7 lawmakers for breaking ranks with the rest of the party.
The critiques illustrate the strong hold that Trump continues to have over Republicans nationally in spite of his November loss and his subsequent refusal to concede defeat.
Polling conducted after the attack on Congress last month continues to show Trump holds a sky-high approval rating among Republicans, and that about half of the GOP is primarily loyal to the ex-president himself, rather than the party.
The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump on Saturday in a 57-43 vote after an unprecedented second impeachment trial.
While Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the lone member of the GOP to vote against Trump after his first trial, he was joined this time by six others: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Some of the senators, including Cassidy, have already been hit with official rebukes from their state party, while many of the others are facing a chorus of criticism from local conservatives. Cassidy was censured by the Louisiana GOP just hours after his vote.
The backlash against Sasse, who is expected to also face a formal censure, was mentioned directly by one of Trump’s defense attorneys from the Senate floor.
“There seem to be some pretty smart jurists in Nebraska, and I can’t believe the United States senator doesn’t know that,” Bruce Castor Jr. said during an at-times confounding address. Castor said Sasse “faces a whirlwind even though he knows what the judiciary in his state thinks.”
Because of prior comments critical of Trump, local GOP chapters in several Nebraska counties have passed resolutions calling for Sasse’s censure, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. A meeting of the state GOP to formally censure the senator was postponed because of weather, the paper reported.
Burr, a senior Republican whose vote to convict Trump came as a surprise to most observers, also drew fire from home state conservatives.
“North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing,” the state Republican Party chairman, Michael Whatley, said in a statement.
Burr is not seeking re-election to a fourth term in the Senate. Mark Walker, a Republican seeking to succeed him in 2022, wrote in a post on Twitter shortly after Saturday’s vote: “Wrong vote, Sen. Burr,” appending a fundraising message.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Toomey may also face “possible backlash at home to come.” The newspaper reported that Lawrence Tabas, the state’s GOP chairman, said in response to Toomey’s vote that he shared a “disappointment of many of our grassroots leaders and volunteers.”
On the whole, it’s unlikely that the backlash will inflict electoral damage in the near-term. Six of the seven Republicans will not be facing re-election next year, in the 2022 cycle. Only Murkowski, who has served in the Senate since 2002, faces an imminent reelection battle.
Some have speculated that the Alaskan’s impeachment vote may provide an impetus for former Gov. Sarah Palin to enter the race in a primary. Palin herself has stoked rumors she’d enter the race.
Each of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump has defended their decision to do so, in statements and in posts on social media. In a video posted online ahead of the vote, Sasse repeated his warnings about Republican loyalty to Trump and said that “politics is not about the weird worship of one dude.”
Toomey, in a thread of posts on Twitter, acknowledged that Trump’s attorneys “made several accurate observations” during their arguments. But, he said, “As a result of President Trump’s actions, for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful.”
“His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction,” Toomey wrote, defending his decision.
CNBC has reached out to each of the seven Republican lawmakers.
The criticism of the senators echoes earlier attacks on the House Republicans who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment in the lower chamber. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was censured by Republicans in her state after her colleagues in the House pushed, unsuccessfully, to strip her of her leadership role.
Some Republicans who did not even vote for Trump’s impeachment have been criticized for not being deferential enough to the ex-president. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for instance, voted to acquit but still delivered a sharp criticism of Trump’s Jan. 6 rally speech, accusing him of being responsible for the day’s violence.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., excoriated McConnell on Sunday for the address.
“I think Sen. McConnell’s speech, he got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortunately he put a load on the back of Republicans,” Graham said on Fox News. “That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns.”
And?
Everyone of them should hang their heads in shame and be removed form office.
Already started.
RNC fund raiser call to me last night.
Told them never to call me again.
Go Sarah. Go!
A GOP backlash means they’re going to pinch each other’s rear ends for a while before proceeding to their next flop.
People voted for them because they ran as republicans not for them to act like Dems to get talking heads on television to say nice things about them.
Hanging in a more than figurative state comes to mind.
POS Uniparty (R) chief poobah, CCP McConnell, is currently fundraising off Donald Trump’s name. His BS Team Mitch campaign site features Trump as prominently as China’s favorite senator!
What exactly does “censoring” these bozos accomplish?
It basically tells them to look for another job next election.....................
Two time world impeachment acquittal champion Donald J. Trump!
Give directly to the campaigns of the candidates of your choice, so the GOP Elites don’t get to SIPHON OFF the top 90% of you donation................
I’m hoping wherever and whenever they appear in public they are harassed unbelievably.
Also they each need to be primaried by a real conservative who backs MAGA instead of these one world a-holes like Mitch.
Since when did they care about the voters? The only politician who listened is who they voted to impeach for that very crime.
Nothing. It's like the letter in your permanent file, except in this case nobody looks at it.
The point of the ritual is to get the issue off the whinger's chest, nothing more. Some of the party hacks think the stern letter is enough, and once they fling that dart they go right back to supporting their schmuck.
Said another way, I have doubts that some of these censure letters are sincere on the part of the face delivering the purely symbolic rebuke.
“What exactly does “censoring” these bozos accomplish?”
It means nothing.
Case in point: Lindsey Graham has been censured several times by South Carolinians. And yet, they still voted for him in the last election.
If the McConnell wing remains uncertain where voter support lies, then they are utter morons, which is still a distinct possibility.
McConnell’s rant against Trump was the divorce decree with MAGA.
If the GOPe runs an establishment stooge, I will not vote. I won’t make the mistake I did with Romney and McCain.
Lol!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.