In interviews with Politico, as the anniversary of the Jan 6th insurrection looms later this week, conservative activists and some Republican Party officials expressed dismay and anger that Donald Trump continues to have a hold on the party as the 2022 midterm election lurks over the horizon.
Speaking with Politico's David Siders, one adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) summed up the feeling of others with Scott Jennings complaining, "He is not the leader of any Republican Party I recognize.”
According to the Politico report, Trump plans to give a speech on the anniversary of the riot this week and has already "telegraphed" what he plans to say.
"If he follows the script laid out in his announcement of the news conference, he will commit a whitewashing of the day, repeating the lie that the 2020 election was rigged and defending his part in fomenting the insurrection — all while a solemn prayer service is held at the Capitol, in a vivid split-screen moment," Politico reports. "And, as Trump castigates Republicans not toeing his line, his event will also serve as a marker of Trump’s extraordinary dominion over the GOP."
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The threat of Trump inflaming his fans as the House select committee ramps up their investigation has conservatives livid.
With Siders suggesting, "One year ago, many prominent Republicans predicted Trump’s behavior on and ahead of Jan. 6 would relegate him to the fringes of the right, shaming the GOP back into the mainstream. Instead, the opposite has happened. When Trump speaks, he will set the table for a midterm election year with him firmly at the Republican Party’s center," Cobb County, Ga., GOP chair, Jason Shepherd, expressed his frustration with what the former president has done to the party.
“It’s become almost a religion in the Republican Party,” he confessed. "You have your believers, and you have your heretics, and anyone who isn’t willing to follow Trump 100 percent, or wants to question Trump, that’s now the new definition of a RINO.“
That sentiment was seconded by one GOP campaign consultant, who didn't want to give their name and remarked, "He will torture everyone, and campaigns will have to have a segment of their strategy based on Trump, and how he’s going to react.”
Jeff Roe, a GOP strategist who has worked with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) added, "It’s insane what he can do. Crazy. It’s almost like we’ve gotten used to it, but you stand back from it, it’s insane.”
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