For the first time in more than a decade, Republicans are awakening in a Washington where Democrats control the White House and Congress, adapting to an era of diminished power, deep insecurity and internal quarrels.
The shift to minority status is always difficult, prompting debates about who is to blame for losing the last election. But the process is especially intense as Republicans ask profound questions about what the party stands for without Donald Trump in charge.
For the past four years, the values of the GOP have been inexorably linked to the whims of a president who regularly undermined democratic institutions and traded the party’s long-standing commitment to fiscal discipline, strong foreign policy and the rule of law for brash and inconsistent populism . The party now faces a decision to continue moving in that direction, as many of Trump’s most loyal supporters are demanding, or to set a new course.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, one of the few Republican elected officials to regularly condemn Trumpism, called on President Ronald Reagan by calling this moment “a time to choose.”
“We have to decide whether to continue in the direction of Donald Trump or return to our roots,” Hogan, a potential White House candidate in 2024, said in an interview.
“The party would be much better off purging itself of Donald Trump,” he added. “But I don’t think there is any hope that he will disappear completely.”
Whether or not the party moves on may boil down to what Republicans like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz then do.
Cruz faked Trump’s baseless claims about electoral fraud for weeks, which helped spark the deadly riot in the Capitol. Republican election officials in various battles led by President Joe Biden said the election was fair. Trump’s claims were outright dismissed in the courts, including by Trump-appointed judges.
Cruz acknowledged Biden’s victory on Wednesday but, when pressed, refused to describe it as legitimate.
“He won the election. He’s the president. I just got off his inauguration, ”Cruz said in an interview.
Looking ahead, Cruz said Trump would remain an important part of the political conversation, but that the Republican Party should refrain from divisive “language and tone and rhetoric” that alienated suburban voters, especially women, in recent elections.
President Trump will certainly continue to voice his views, and they will continue to have a real impact, but I think in the future the country wants policies that work, and I think we as a party should do a better job winning hearts and minds , ”Said Cruz, who is also considering running the White House.
In the aftermath of the January 6 riot at the Capitol, a small but notable faction of high-profile Republicans are taking a stronger stance against or distancing themselves from Trump.
The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, said on the eve of the inauguration that the pro-Trump crowd that stormed the Capitol was “provoked by the president.” Even Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president and long regarded as his most dedicated cheerleader, skipped Trump’s departure ceremony to attend Biden’s inauguration.
Trump has retired to his South Florida club, where he has held a small group of former White House aides who will work from a two-story guesthouse on the Mar-a-Lago property. In addition to advisers in Washington, Trump will have access to a well-funded political action committee, the Save America PAC, which will likely inherit tens of millions of dollars in donations that flooded his campaign treasury following his election loss.
Those close to Trump believe he will lay low for the foreseeable future as he focuses on his impending impeachment lawsuit for sparking the riot. After that, he is expected to re-appear, likely to give media interviews, and find a new home on social media after losing his powerful Twitter megaphone.
While his plans are just taking shape, Trump is expected to remain politically active, including seeking revenge by supporting primary challenges against Republicans he thought he despised in his last days. He continues to leave the door open for another presidential run in 2024. Some friends think he could even flirt with running as a third-party candidate, seriously shattering an already broken GOP.
Trump made an ominous vow when he left the White House for the last time as president: “We’re coming back in some form.”
Many in the die-hard base of the GOP continue to promote conspiracy theories, embrace white nationalism, and above all, revere Trump’s voice as gospel.
Trump loyalists in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wyoming expressed outrage and disappointment at the 10 Republicans who voted with the Democrats to oust Trump last week. One of them, Michigan Rep. Pete Meijer said he bought body armor to protect himself from a wave of threats from Trump supporters.
In Wyoming, Frank Eathorne, chairman of the GOP, this week raised the possibility of secession and criticized Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, another Republican who supported Trump’s impeachment.
“The Republican National Committee sees President Trump as our party leader in the future. … The (state party) agrees, ” Eathorne said, pointing out that Trump “ represents the timeless principles ” that the state and the national GOP stand for.
Trump left office with a 34% approval score, according to Gallup – the lowest of his presidency – but the vast majority of Republicans, 82%, approved of his work. Even as some try to move on, Trump’s continued popularity with the GOP base ensures that he will remain a political force.
Despite the GOP’s many challenges, they are within reach to retake one or both chambers of Congress in next year’s midterm elections. Since the 2006 mid-term sessions, the White House party has lost an average of 37 seats in the House. Currently, Democrats hold a 10-seat majority in the House and are tied to Republicans in the Senate.
Maryland Governor Hogan said the GOP may be at one of its lows ever, but noted that Reagan was reclaiming the White House for Republicans just six years after President Richard Nixon was forced to resign in disgrace. .
“Obviously, (Trump) still has a lock on a pretty big chunk of the Republican base, but there are an awful lot of people who were afraid to speak out for four years – unlike me – who are now starting to speak, ‘Hogan said.
Still, there are plenty of hurdles ahead. Primary challenges could leave the party next year with Congressional nominees moving even further to the right, compromising the GOP’s grip on races they might otherwise win.
More immediately, Senate Republicans, including McConnell, are grappling with whether or not to convict Trump for serious crimes and felonies, as outlined in last week’s impeachment from the House. The Senate could eventually vote to ban Trump from ever holding office again.
“I hope Republicans will not participate in this petty, vengeful, last-minute assault on President Trump,” Cruz said. “We just have to move on.”
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Associated Press authors Jill Colvin in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, contributed to this report.
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This story has been corrected to show that Frank Eathorne is the GOP chairman in Wyoming, not Montana.