Trump’s early endorsements reveal GOP breach

Former President TrumpDonald Trump Gaetz denied with Trump: Chairman of CNN’s Federal Reserve: Economy would have been ‘so much worse’ without COVID-19 emergency relief laws. California City Police Announce Illegal Assembly Amid White People Protest MORE‘s recent endorsements of Sens. Ron JohnsonRonald (Ron) Harold Johnson The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden fights gun ‘epidemic’ amid SC, Texas shooting Trump faces test of power with early underwriting Trump endorses Rand Paul for re-election (R-Wis), Rand PaulRandal (Rand) Howard PaulAlarm grows over the impact of states banning trans-youth treatment The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by ExxonMobil – World mourns the death of Prince Philip The Morning Report – Biden fights ‘epidemic’ of gun violence amid SC , Texas shooting MORE (R-Ky.) En Marco RubioMarco Antonio RubioThe note: Biden’s five biggest challenges for foreign policy in Hillicon Valley: Amazon wins union election – says ‘our employees made the choice’ Overnight Defense: Biden proposes 3B defense budget | Criticism comes from left and right in Pentagon moves more to new show for extremists (R-Fla.) Uncovering a gap between Republicans who want to leave the Trump era behind and those who view its populist conservatism as a winning formula.

By dropping a number of Senate ballots almost twenty months before election day, Trump is placing himself squarely in the internal debate among GOP legislators over where they want to go as a party and how closely they want to work together. President BidenJoe Biden Federal Reserve Chairman: Economy would have been ‘so much worse’ without COVID-19 bills for Biden to meet with bilingual infrastructure lawmakers on Monday..

He also sends signals to allies that he can protect them from primary challenges next year, a possible strong incentive for fellow Republicans not to throw away his legacy.

“It’s a great look to put off potential challengers,” said Jim McLaughlin, a Republican strategist. Trump has a “very good relationship” with Senator Rick Scott (Fla.), Head of the Senate GOPs. campaign.

McLaughlin said Trump’s growing interest in the early machinery of the 2022 election cycle would similarly send a message to Republicans that ‘they must fight’ Biden’s agenda, which is largely aimed at dismantling the previous government’s policies. .

Some GOP senators, such as Sens. Susan CollinsSusan Margaret Collins The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden fights gun violence ‘epidemic’ in the midst of SC, Texas Biden GOP infrastructure talks rocky start Moderate GOP senators and Biden clash at the start of infrastructure debate MORE (Maine), Lisa MurkowskiLisa Ann MurkowskiTrump is big due to GOP donor refuge in Florida Top GOP super PAC endorses Murkowski amid primary threat Biden GOP infrastructure speaks with a rocky start MORE (Alaska) and Mitt RomneyWillard (Mitt) Mitt Romney Two delegates from the sheriff shot by gunman in Utah Romney explodes the end of the filibuster, the extension of SCOTUS Over the management of Utah’s public lands, Biden must follow a responsible legislative process. (Utah), says they want to work with Biden. They were part of a group that met with the president in early February to investigate a coronavirus relief package. But Biden quickly rejected their proposal as inadequate.

In the end, not one congressional Republican voted for Biden’s $ 1.9 billion bailout plan.

Some Republican lawmakers see Trump’s departure from the White House as an opportunity to break with certain policies that were widely unpopular during the Senate GOP conference. Among them was Trump’s approach to trade and foreign policy.

Republican lawmakers have not yet decided whether they want to abandon Trump’s trade and tariff practices, and Biden is holding that in place for now.

On foreign policy, there has not been much backlash from the Senate GOP conference on Biden’s decision to repair fences with NATO allies. The president reaffirmed America’s commitment to NATO in February, stating: ‘An attack on one is an attack on all. This is our unwavering vow. ”

But for other Republicans, Trump’s support outside office is the fuel to drive their own careers and expand the GOP base among working-class voters. GOP strategists note that Johnson, Paul and Rubio all wanted Trump’s approval.

Sen. Josh HawleyJoshua (Josh) David Hawley McConnell in a Difficult Place with GOP, Big Thing Pence Autobiography Comes From Simon & Schuster The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Causes Definition Debate MORE (R-Mo.) Is among the handful of Republican senators who have adopted Trump’s populism and see it as the party’s future.

Hawley says he will unveil an agenda for trust bowlers [the] 21st Century ”focused this week on giant vigilant corporations [that] continues to tell Biden’s great lie about Georgia. ”

The agenda is not in line with all conservatives.

“I agree with the sentiments until he advocates a policy that is a free market,” said Brian Darling, an IDP strategist. “The only thing the Republicans have to resist more than anything is the urge to use antitrust laws to repel the corporations they disagree with.”

Hawley also broke with most of the IDP conference last year by endorsing $ 2,000 stimulus checks in a $ 900 billion compromise measure passed by Congress in December. Trump also preferred to send out $ 2,000 checks, but many Republicans did not succeed.

At the other end of the spectrum is Murkowski, who wants the GOP to return to the party of the “big tent” he had under President Reagan.

“If the Republican Party is still Trump’s party, I’m not quite sure where I fit in,” she said in January.

She got a boost on Friday when the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC linked to the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellBiden meets on Monday with dual infrastructure lawmakers 100 businessmen discuss how to fight new voting rules: Arkansas governor report says ‘divisive’ Trump attacks on GOP officials are ‘useless’ MORE (R-Ky.), Endorsed her in 2022 for re-election.

“Alaska needs the kind of experienced representation that Lisa Murkowski provides in the United States Senate,” said the group’s president, Steven Law, who previously served as McConnell’s chief of staff.

McConnell has broken up with Trump since losing to Biden. The GOP leader did not speak to the president in mid-December and denounced in February his role in inciting a crowd of supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6 while lawmakers vote in the Electoral College.

Trump has been relatively quiet since he was banned from Twitter in early January. But over the past few days, he has increasingly asserted his presence in Republican politics with a series of statements and approvals from his post-presidential office and his Save America PAC.

The PAC has built a $ 85 million war chest to strengthen Trump’s most loyal allies, a reminder to fellow Republicans that he intends to remain a political force.

This past week, he endorsed Johnson, Paul and Rubio, three of his most loyal Senate allies, who will be re-elected next year. Johnson, who spearheaded an investigation into Hunter Biden’s work for a Ukrainian energy company – a favorite subject of Trump – has not yet announced whether he will seek a third term.

He urged Johnson ‘Run, Ron, Run!’ even though the Democrats think they have a better chance of winning the seat if he is the GOP nominee.

“I hope he does run. That makes it easier for the Democrats to pick it up. “He’s been so radical and outrageous about so many issues lately that I think it’s easier for the Democrats when he’s there,” said Ben Nuckels, a Democratic strategist representing Wisconsin Gov. Tony EversTony EversBiden Recalls Trump-Approved Medicaid Work Requirements in Michigan, Governor of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, Declares State of Emergency over Wildfires. Wisconsin seeks more than $ 0.000 in legal costs incurred from IDP election lawsuits MORE (D) won in 2018.

Brandon Scholz, a Republican strategist in Wisconsin, predicted that Democrats would repeat the anti-Trump-focused tactics and rhetoric they used in 2020.

He said Trump’s endorsement “would definitely work for the Democrats who are trying to create the same campaign they offered against Donald Trump in the presidential race against Ron Johnson.”

Democrats have not waged a problem-based campaign against Trump in Wisconsin, Scholz said, but rather one focused on his character and behavior.

“They hated Donald Trump – that’s what the campaign is about,” he said. “My point is that they are trying to recreate the campaign.”