WASHINGTON – Donald Trump paid little to no political price for the sex scandals, investigations and legal threats that have always surrounded him – at least until the end when his party lost the White House and control of the US Senate.
But does this apply to other Republican politicians?
We’re about to find out with the former announcement by the Government of Missouri, Eric Greitens, that he’s running for the Senate by outgoing Senator Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Greitens resigned his governorship in 2018 amid sexual misconduct and allegations of campaign funding, writes Ben Kamisar, NBC.
More about Kamisar: ” A woman who then admitted to Greitens that he had an extramarital affair with him accused him of taking a nude photo of her without her consent, and told investigators of the state said he assaulted her. Prosecutors initially charged him with a charge of invasion of privacy related to the episode, but the charge was dismissed. ”
On Fox News announcing his Senate bid, Greitens said he was acquitted after the charges were dismissed and after a state ethics committee concluded that his campaign – but not Greitens himself – committed offenses of campaign funding has.
Greitens told Fox that he resigned from his office because “I had to do this for the people I love the most.”
Yet the candidate for the Senate of Greitens is a risky case for a Republican Party that wants to win back the Senate with a challenging card and has so far announced five GOP resignations from the Senate.
If he’s the nominee, Republicans will decide to embrace someone with that kind of record.
(U.S. Representatives. Ann Wagner, Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long are other potential GOP candidates to run for Blunt’s seat.)
We remember when Roy Moore lost a Senate seat in Alabama (a state Trump won by 25 points in 2020), and when Kris Kobach lost the governorship race in Kansas (a state won Trump by 15 points).
Candidates matter.
Donald Trump, as the saying goes, can shoot anyone in 5th Avenue and get away with it.
But what about Eric Greitens?
Meet the potential – and Trump-nominated – Senate 2022 class
Greitens was not the only Republican to announce a Senate bid on Monday.
So too Rep Mo Brooks, R-Ala. – for the seat vacated by retired Senator Richard Shelby, R-Ala.
Speaking of course, during the January 6 meeting, Brooks said, “Today is the day that American patriots start taking pictures and kicking.” (Brooks later said the context of his remarks was about the 2022 and 2024 elections, not about the violence that would later take place at the Capitol.)
Brooks. Greitens. Josh Mandel or Jane Timken in Ohio. Meet the Republican Party’s potential – and given by Trump – the 2022 Senate class.
Tweet of the day
Data download: the numbers you need to know today
51 percent: The share of Republicans now saying they support gay and lesbian couples in a new PRRI poll is the first time the majority of Republicans have supported it.
67 percent: The proportion of Americans in general who support same-sex marriage.
$ 3 billion: The reported award for President Biden’s major infrastructure / climate proposal.
More than 200,000: The number of people who used a special enrollment period to sign up for Obamacare.
At least 30: The number of countries that have not yet vaccinated one person.
29,998,618: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to the latest data from NBC News and health officials. (This is 55 033 more than yesterday morning.)
545 506: The number of deaths in the United States so far due to the virus, according to the most recent data from NBC News. (This is 658 more than yesterday morning.)
126,509,736: Number of doses of vaccines administered in the US
12.8 percent: The proportion of Americans who are fully vaccinated.
37: The number of days Biden has left to reach his 100-day vaccination target.
Senate confirms Biden’s choice of Labor Secretary
The Senate confirmed Boston Mayor Marty Walsh 68-29 Monday as President Biden’s Labor Secretary, according to Frank Thorp of NBC.
Biden Kabinetwag
State: Tony Blinken (confirmed)
Treasury: Janet Yellen (confirmed)
Defense: Ret. Gen. Lloyd Austin (confirmed)
Attorney General: Merrick Garland (confirmed)
National Security: Alejandro Mayorkas (confirmed)
HHS: Xavier Becerra (confirmed)
Agricultural: Tom Vilsack (confirmed)
Transport: Pete Buttigieg (confirmed)
Energy: Jennifer Granholm (confirmed)
Within: Deb Haaland (confirmed)
Education: Miguel Cardona (confirmed)
Trade: Gina Raimondo (confirmed)
Work: Marty Walsh (confirmed)
SKIN: Marcia Fudge (confirmed)
Veteran Affairs: Denis McDonough (confirmed)
UN Ambassador: Linda Thomas-Greenfield (confirmed)
Director of National Intelligence: Avril Haines (confirmed)
EPA: Michael Regan (confirmed)
SBA: Isabel Guzman
And the number of the week is … 3,143
Get ready for a very deep dive into a number of numbers at the provincial level, at The Chuck Toddcast.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world?
Here’s the latest on how some Democrats are worried about their own party’s attempts to overthrow an Iowa House race.
A veteran Navy SEAL weighs a challenge for Raphael Warnock in Georgia.
First lady Jill Biden is expected to be involved in the effort to reunite migrant children with their parents. So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange.