The Abnormal GOP Normal

 As Newsweek has reported

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Monday that unspecified "conclusive" information proved the FBI had "buried" an investigation into a laptop previously owned by Hunter Biden, the son of 2020 election winner President Joe Biden. The former president claimed that the FBI's alleged "interference" into the election could only be remedied by him being declared the winner almost two years after he lost, or by the "minimal solution" of calling a new election that could lead to his reinstatement.

"This is massive FRAUD & ELECTION INTERFERENCE at a level never seen before in our Country," Trump wrote. "REMEDY: Declare the rightful winner or, and this would be the minimal solution, declare the 2020 Election irreparably compromised and have a new Election, immediately!"

(Warning: sarcasm ahead.)

Not ONE Republican Member of Congress came out to support Trump’s deranged tweet that he should be declared the winner of the 2020 election and immediately reinstated as president. Not a single one.

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) August 30, 2022

I can't tell you (or Filipkowski) how impressed I am than no GOP member of the House or the Senate leaped to support a new election in 2020- which might invalidate the victories won by some of them that November.

Neither did any of them condemn Trump's tweet. That is simply not done. The previous day, George Stephanopoulos on This Week interviewed Republican senator Roy Blunt of Missouri about a report from ABC reporter Dan Pierre.  Stephanopoulos asked "You heard former President Trump in Pierre's piece saying he did nothing wrong. Do you agree with that? Was he right to take these documents to Mar-a-Lago?"

In pertinent part, Blunt responded "Well, I think we need to know more about the documents."  When Stephanopoulos interjected with "but, Senator, that's," Blunt stated "If there's a problem, the Oversight Committee should have been told."

In one way or another, Stephanopoulos asked the Senator six more times whether he agreed that Trump should have turned the documents over to the National Archives, Blunt would concede only "I understand he turned over a lot of documents. He should have turned over all of them. I imagine he knows that very well now as well." Stephanopoulos noted "well, he hasn't said that. He said he did nothing wrong."

Notwithstanding a strong effort from a journalist committing journalism, Blunt refused to concede that Donald Trump shouldn't have taken government documents, nor did he express support for the FBI performing the job it does regularly.  

The public is continually assured by the media- and even by some Democrats- that there are mounds of Republican Senators and Representatives appalled by Donald Trump who fail to criticize him only because they are afraid of the repercussions by the former President and his base.

This is, and has been, hogwash . Roy Blunt is retiring and does not have to fear a primary challenge from a Trump-endorsed opponent.  Surely, he is someone Bill Stepien, if asked, would consider part of "Team Normal" rather than "Team Crazy."  No one would mistake him for Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, or even his Missouri colleague in the US Senate, Josh Hawley. He even avoided the GOP go-to, "Hillary." Yet, he would not bring himself to agree that Trump was wrong to take documents to Mar-a-Lago.

He would not do so because he is unconvinced that Donald Trump did anything wrong. Blunt is fine with what the 45th President did because Trump is a Republican, Blunt himself is a Republican, and you are not. Aside from "but her emails," he is today's Republican Party. evolved from Ronald(6) Wilson(6) Reagan(6).

 

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