The seven Republican senators who agreed with all 50 Democrats to convict former President Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 riot in the Capitol are now facing conservatives in their home countries.
Party leaders and local officials of the GOP, many trying to win favor with the broad range of conservative voters still loyal to Trump, condemned the 7 lawmakers for breaking ranks with the rest of the party.
The criticism illustrates the strong position Trump still holds over Republicans, despite his November loss and his subsequent refusal to concede defeat.
Polls done after the attack on Congress last month still show that Trump has a sky-high approval rate among Republicans, and that about half of the GOP is primarily loyal to the former president himself, rather than the party.
The Senate finally acquitted Trump in a 57-43 vote on Saturday after an unprecedented second indictment.
Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only member of the GOP who voted against Trump after his first trial, but six times he added: 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 been hit with official reprimands from their state party, while many of the others face a chorus of criticism from local conservatives. Cassidy was censored by the Louisiana GOP only hours after his vote.
The setback against Sasse, who is also expected to receive formal abuse, was mentioned directly by one of Trump’s defenders of the Senate floor.
“There seems to be some smart lawyers in Nebraska, and I can ‘t believe the U.S. senator doesn’t know that,” Bruce Castor Jr. said. said during a sometimes confusing speech. Castor said Sasse “faces a whirlwind, though he knows what the judiciary in his state thinks.”
As a result of previous comments criticizing Trump, local GOP chapters in several Nebraska counties have adopted resolutions calling for Sasse’s conscience ban, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. A meeting of the state GOP to formally condemn the senator has been postponed due to the weather, the newspaper reported.
Burr, a senior Republican whose vote to condemn Trump came as a surprise to most observers, also sparked homeland conservatives.
“North Carolina Republicans have sent Senator Burr to the U.S. Senate to uphold the Constitution and today pleaded guilty in a trial that he declared unconstitutional shocking and disappointing,” Republican State President Michael Whatley said , said in a statement.
Burr does not want to be re-elected for a fourth term in the Senate. Mark Walker, a Republican who wants to succeed him in 2022, wrote in a post on Twitter shortly after Saturday’s vote: ‘Wrong vote, sen. Burr ‘, and add a fundraising message.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Toomey could also ‘face a possible setback at home’. The newspaper reported that Lawrence Tabas, the GOP chairman of the state, said in response to Toomey’s voice that he had a “disappointment from many of our grassroots leaders and volunteers”.
In general, the setback is unlikely to cause damage in the short term. Six of the seven Republicans will not be re-elected in the 2022 cycle next year. Only Murkowski, who has served in the Senate since 2002, faces an impending re-election campaign.
Some have speculated that the accusation of the Alaska could give impetus to former Gov. Sarah Palin to run in the race. Palin herself sparked rumors that she would enter the race.
Each of the seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump defended their decision to do so, in statements and in social media reports. In a video posted online before the vote, Sasse reiterates his warnings about Republican loyalty to Trump, saying “politics is not about the strange worship of one dude.”
Toomey admitted in a thread of posts on Twitter that Trump’s lawyers made a number of accurate remarks during their arguments. But, he said, “As a result of President Trump’s actions, the transfer of presidential power for the first time in American history has not been peaceful.”
“His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction,” Toomey wrote, defending his decision.
Cassidy said in an interview with ABC News on Sunday that he was “trying to hold President Trump accountable” and that Cassidy “is very confident that people will move to the position in due course.”
“The Republican Party is more than just one person. The Republican Party is about ideas,” he said.
CNBC has issued each of the seven Republican legislators.
The criticism of the senators reflects earlier attacks on Republicans from the House who voted in favor of Trump’s accusation in the lower house. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was condemned by Republicans in her state after her colleagues in the House unsuccessfully insisted on depriving her of her leadership role.
Some Republicans who did not even vote for Trump’s accusation were criticized for not doing enough for the former president. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader, R-Ky., For example, voted to speak out, but still sharply criticized Trump’s January 6 speech, accusing him of being responsible for the day’s violence.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., excited McConnell Sunday for the speech.
“I think Sen. McConnell’s speech, he obviously got a load off his chest, but unfortunately he put a load on the back of the Republicans,” Graham told Fox News. “You will see that speech in 2022 campaigns.”
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