Trump is screwing up impeachment response, establishment Republicans fret
Republicans are alarmed that Team Trump isn’t putting together an “organized, unified” (ha!) response to the impeachment inquiry, a “very seasoned and well-known GOP operative” tells Politico Playbook in an anonymous note laying out the concerns. Mind you, they’re not alarmed at the substance of what he’s done, but they’re worried about being left on the hook as he fails to defend himself. Let’s take a look at these Republican concerns.
”There is either a failure to fully appreciate the gravity of the situation; or an inability to protect the president like they did his Supreme Court nominees with a centralized war room that has credibility with stakeholders across the party,” writes the anonymous operative. But can’t it be both?
Trump is making it difficult for Republicans to defend him, the operative writes, not because what he did is so indefensible, but because “Nobody wants to look like [Kevin] McCarthy did on ‘60 Minutes’ and right now they’ll duck and cover until they’re on firmer footing.” Not nobody—Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jim Jordan appear thrilled to do it.
This appears to be someone who doesn’t quite get that Trump thinks all he needs is the Freedom Caucus: ”The Trump administration has blazed their own communications path up to this point, but there is deep skepticism that the late-night Fox lineup will have any credibility with rank-and-file Republicans that are necessary to prosecute this argument against House Democrats.” Trump doesn’t want a lot of rank-and-file House Republicans. He wants a few really loud ones.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/2/1889491/-Trump-is-screwing-up-impeachment-response-establishment-Republicans-fret
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