The New York Times
A strengthened extremist wing increases its power in a leaderless GOP
WASHINGTON – Knute Buehler, who led the Oregon Republican ticket in 2018 as a candidate for governor, has been watching with increasing alarm over the past few weeks how Republicans across the country are questioning the reliability of the presidential election results. Then he watched the January 6 siege at the American Capitol terrify. And then, to his surprise, Republican officials in his own state adopted the conspiracy theory that the attack was actually a left-wing ‘false flag’ plot to frame Trump supporters. The night after his party’s leadership adopted a formal resolution to promote the false flag theory, Buehler broke open a local microbrewery and filed to change his registration from Republican to independent. Sign up for The Morning Newsletter of the New York Times “It was very painful,” he said. His unfortunate resignation highlights one facet of the revolution currently underway in the IDP: it has become a leaderless party, with veterans like Buehler moving away, light-hearted like Senator Rob Portman retiring from Ohio, right-wing extremists like Rep . Georgia is building a brand on a web of dangerous conspiracy theories, and Republicans who support Trump are at war with other conservatives who want to look beyond the former president to the future. Without any dominant leader other than the weakened president of one term, a radical right-wing movement encouraged under former President Donald Trump exercised more power and rose in different states and congressional districts. More moderate Republicans are increasingly feeling under attack, but so far they have made little progress in galvanizing voters, donors or new recruits for office to push back against extremism. Instead, the Republican Party in Arizona punished disagreement and formally sentenced three of its own: Government Doug Ducey, former Senator Jeff Flake, and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Senator John McCain. The party cited their criticism of Trump and their defense of the state’s election process. In Wyoming, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Held a rally on Thursday to meet Rep. To denounce Liz Cheney for her vote to accuse Trump. Donald Trump Jr., the son of the former president, joined Gaetz by phone. He worked to unsettle Cheney and replace her with someone who he said better represented the opinions of her constituents – in other words, a marriage to his father. In Kentucky, grassroots Republicans are trying to pressure the state party to pass a resolution calling on Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, to fully support Trump in next month’s indictment. The attempt failed. And in Michigan, Meshawn Maddock, a Trump supporter who attended false allegations about voter fraud and organized buses of Republicans from the state to attend the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, runs unopposed to become the new co-chair of the state party . As Maddock marched from the Ellipse to the Capitol on January 6, he praised the “most incredible crowd and sea of people I have ever worked with.” Nothing defines and divides the IDP more than loyalty to Trump and his false claims about the election. “You have 41% of the country, including many independents, who think the election was stolen,” said Scott Reed, former political director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a veteran Republican consultant. “It’s an incredible amount. It takes months before a party that loses a national election lies down again. “There are still Republican officials who are responsible for the political interests of the party – but these people are under their own pressure and preach unity to factions that do not want to unite. Perhaps the most prominent party official at present is Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and a close ally of Trump. In an interview Friday, she condemned the “false flag” resolution passed by Oregon Republicans and sounded upset about the public outcry within her party. “If you’re having a family dispute, do not engage in ‘Jerry Springer,'” McDaniel said. Do it behind closed doors. It is my role to call them and explain that we will lose if we do not unite our party and stay focused on 2022. If we cancel fellow Republicans attack and culture within our own party, it is not helpful to win majorities. At the same time, McDaniel made it clear that she was not going to take the party from the top down, pointing out that the role of the RNC is to remain neutral in the by-elections. She said she planned to do so in the 2022 midterm elections. “It depends on whether there are more serious things, or whether there is a David Duke situation,” she said. ‘Majorie Taylor Greene is trying to distance herself from these things and an investigation will be launched. I trust the voters. I have a lot of confidence in the voters to choose who is best to represent them. “For some Republicans who are very critical of Trump, the former president’s departure from Washington has not led to an improved era for the party. On the contrary, they see a party that does not have the leadership to stand against its most extreme and divisive factions. “Kevin McCarthy was more critical of Liz Cheney than of Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said Bill Kristol, the Conservative author and a ‘Never Trump’ Republican, about the House Republican leader. “It’s pretty amazing. That is the conclusion. It is one thing to have party unity, but at some point there must be boundaries. “Senior Republicans are still figuring out where it is after four years of Trump, who has constantly burst beyond borders. McDaniel said she was concerned about some of the language used by Greene, who before his election to Congress expressed support for the execution of prominent Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. McDaniel called the remarks “horrific” and said “they should be condemned.” She added: ‘They are inaccurate. They are very, very dangerous. But she stopped judging Greene outright and gave her the doubt for her disturbing comments in the past. “She said they were not coming from her,” McDaniel said. “There needs to be an investigation, and I trust Kevin McCarthy will handle it within his own caucus.” When McDaniel pressured him, he said some GOP resolutions and statements should be rejected, citing Oregon’s false flag decision. “I know our presidents are doing their best to represent their constituents, but the statement goes too far,” she said. And she regrets that Rudy Giuliani, the former president’s personal lawyer and former mayor of New York, and Sidney Powell, another member of Trump’s legal team that spreads conspiracy theories, are holding a news conference at RNC headquarters in Washington. “When I saw some things Sidney was saying, without proof, I was definitely worried it was happening in my building,” she said. “There are a number of issues we had to deal with – what is the liability of the RNC if these allegations were made and unfounded?” Despite the efforts of McDaniel, who remains closely associated with Trump, to bring the party together, many Republicans feel throughout their lives that there is no place for them in it. In Washington state, Chris Vance devoted himself for years to the Republican movement as a politician and as party chairman. But in 2016, when he failed unsuccessfully for the Senate, he found himself in conflict with many Republican voters in his state, who disagreed on issues such as trade agreements, immigration and the role of NATO. The breach has only increased in the past four years, he said. “They’re going to be a Trump society,” said Vance, who has since left the party. “I do not think the party can be saved. I think it needs to be broken up, crushed and blown to pieces. Some Republican strategists have said that when Democrats in Congress try to enforce legislation, it would be easier for Republicans to remember that they are on the same team. “Over time, Pelosi-Schumer-Biden’s agenda will unite the Republican Party in that order,” said Marc Short, who served as chief of staff to former Vice President Mike Pence. He called Greene an “extraordinary member” of the IDP conference and said that “the obituaries of the IDP are premature.” Others in the party conceded that there is little leverage: an increase in fundraising with a low dollar means, for example, that some large donors who prefer more moderate agendas are losing influence in politics. Greene said on Friday that nearly 60,000 small donors had given $ 1.6 million to her campaign account since the news media called a “smear campaign” against her. McCarthy, people familiar with his thinking, said he was bothered by Greene and believed the only way to deal with her was to tolerate her. On Saturday, Greene tweeted that she had spoken to Trump and that he had offered his support, potentially undermining efforts to modulate her behavior. At the state level, Republican leaders are grappling with how to keep Trump loyalists busy while trying to keep the party away from conspiracy theories. “Trump was a value addition for our party,” said Jennifer Carnahan, chairwoman of the Republican Party in Minnesota. ‘We saw a growth level in Minnesota that we had not seen in a long time. We want the people to stay engaged. We want them to vote again in two years’ time. She added: “We must also remember that one of the things that makes America so wonderful is free and fair elections. Biden is inaugurated; he is our president. National party officials like McDaniel, who want to unite the party to win back majorities by 2022, are in a difficult position to try to do so without disregarding Republicans who attack other Republicans. In the middle of the whole section is Trump. He still has power over his party, even outside his office, and has been excluded from Twitter, as was clear when McCarthy visited him last week to discuss his help in 2022 races. But Reed said the party needs to look beyond Trump if it wants to win again. “A strong party always looks to the future for leaders, not the past,” he said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company