Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Abusers and the Abused



This is an apt comment about Brian Kemp but an even better one about other Republicans.


Kemp is similar to an abused spouse or domestic partner, whom obviously is usually the woman.  However, fitting the bill even better is House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who

demurred on the question of whether Donald Trump is best candidate Republicans can put forward to face Joe Biden in 2024 — before backlash from Magaworld forced him to walk back his criticism and call the former president to apologise.

In a CNBC interview on Tuesday, Mr McCarthy said Mr Trump can beat Mr Biden but that he’s not sure another Republican couldn’t do better.

“Can he win that election? Yeah, he can,” Mr McCarthy said. “The question is, is he the strongest to win the election? I don’t know that answer. But can somebody, can anybody beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden.”

But like an abused wife or girlfriend

The House speaker changed his tune in a later interview with Breitbart, saying his words had been twisted and he didn’t mean to undermine Mr Trump.

As usual, the media is attempting to drive a wedge between President Trump and House Republicans as our committees are holding Biden’s DOJ accountable for their two-tiered levels of justice,” he said. “The only reason Biden is using his weaponised federal government to go after President Trump is because he is Biden’s strongest political opponent, as polling continues to show.”

“Just look at the numbers this morning—Trump is stronger today than he was in 2016,” he added in reference to a Morning Consult poll which showed Mr Trump ahead of Mr Biden by a margin of 44 per cent to 41 per cent.

It later emerged that, in addition to the Breitbart interview, Mr McCarthy also called the former president to apologise for his comments, CNN reports. He even sent out a campaign fundraising email on behalf of Mr Trump that claimed the 45th president was “stronger than ever” heading into the 2024 election.

Well, of course he did, because most Republicans not in swing districts- and most aren't- are on balance fine with Donald Trump, who

could face still more legal trouble in the months to come over his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election,…

Still, Mr McCarthy’s suggestion that Mr Trump may not be the strongest candidate is notable if only because the California representative has long been one of Mr Trump’s most vocal allies in Republican leadership — famously aiding his political rehabilitation by visiting him at Mar-a-Lago just weeks after the Capitol riot.

Fret not for Kevin McCarthy, Brian Kemp, or like-minded members of their party. Aided by centrist and center-left media, the myth remains that most Republicans are only bowing to the wishes of right-wing, unreasonable constituents. This is not the case, on the federal level and not in most states controlled by the GOP. The pols and their donors are willing members of this caucus.



Most people, even Republicans, are reasonable, if led by reasonable politicians.  But throughout the country, GOP leaders are far -right extremists, members of an informal, unofficial reckless caucus. They know what they're doing, it's not pretty, and they shouldn't be let off the hook.




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