BIRMINGHAM, Mich. -- By the summer of 2017, Dave Trott, a two-term Republican congressman, was worried enough about President Donald Trump's erratic behavior and his flailing attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act that he criticized the president in a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP lawmakers.The
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — By the summer of 2017, Dave Trott, a two-term Republican congressman, was worried enough about President Donald Trump’s erratic behavior and his flailing attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act that he criticized the president in a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP lawmakers.
Just under four years after he began his takeover of a party to which he had little connection, Trump enters 2020 burdened with the ignominy of being the first sitting president to seek reelection after being impeached. Story continuesThis fealty hardly guarantees Trump reelection: He has never garnered a 50% approval rating as president and over half of voters tell pollsters they will oppose him no matter who the Democrats nominate.
Or they can mute their criticism of him. All the incentives that shape political behavior — with voters, donors and the news media — compel Republicans to bow to Trump if they want to survive. On the other hand, Trump dangles rewards to those who show loyalty — a favorable tweet, or a presidential visit to their state — and his heavy hand has assured victory for a number of Republican candidates in their primaries. That includes Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who did as many Fox News appearances as possible to draw the president’s attention.
Riding with Trump in his limousine on Key West last year, Curbelo recalled in an interview that the president had noted that people were lining the streets to show their support for him, and asked Curbelo if they were in his district. Yet after she vehemently criticized the impeachment hearings and found herself under attack by George Conway, the anti-Trump husband of the White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, she welcomed the embrace of the president, his family and news media allies such as the Fox News host Sean Hannity — and the campaign donations that poured in.
The group’s president, David McIntosh, said conservative voters had lost interest in punishing ideological heresies and were motivated by one overarching factor unrelated to policy. “Public officials need to be held accountable, and I don’t think any governmental system works well with blind loyalty without reason,” said Rep. Francis Rooney of Florida, who announced his intention to retire earlier this year after criticizing Trump for his conduct with Ukraine and suffering an immediate backlash.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ex-GOP Rep. Justin Amash fact-checks Republican colleagues' defense of Trump against impeachmentThe independent congressman from Michigan was elected as a Republican, but formally withdrew from the political party in July.
Read more »
Republican representative compares Trump to Jesus during impeachment hearings: 'Pontius Pilate afforded more rights to Jesus'Representative Barry Loudermilk said that Democrats were more unfair to Trump than Pilate was to Jesus Christ.
Read more »
Flake to GOP: What would you do if it were Barack Obama, not Donald Trump?Former Senator Jeff Flake wrote in an op ed directed at his onetime Republican colleagues that not only is President Trump on trial in impeachment proceedings, but 'so are you. And so is the political party to which we belong.'
Read more »
Flake to GOP: What would you do if it were Barack Obama, not Donald Trump?In a passionate op-ed on Friday, former Republican Senator Jeff Flake wrote to his former colleagues that not only is Trump on trial, but 'so are you.'
Read more »
Stephen Miller Says 'Donald Trump Is the Anti-Racist President'The senior White House adviser blamed Democrats for his tarnished reputation claiming that they are projecting their own racism when attacking him
Read more »