- House minority leader Kevin McCarthy visited former President Donald Trump in Florida on Thursday.
- The trip shows the power Trump still has over the Republican Party.
- Republicans like McCarthy are quickly returning to Trump after briefly condemning him.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
In the wake of the Capitol’s deadly revolt, it seemed that President Donald Trump’s brand was toxic.
Even the generally loyal Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader in the House, said Trump was responsible for the violence. Ten Republicans, though not McCarthy, voted with Democrats to make Trump the only U.S. president twice accused.
Three weeks later, it is a very different story.
In a tacit acknowledgment that Trump maintains his status as the creator of the King of the Republican Party, McCarthy on Thursday visited Trump at his post-presidential home in Florida.
A statement from McCarthy’s office said the two discussed how the Republican Party could win back Congress in 2022.
—Ed O’Keefe (@edokeefe) January 28, 2021
Contrary to opinion polls, Trump’s new Save America PAC boasted after the meeting that “President Trump’s popularity has never been stronger than today and his endorsement means more than perhaps any endorsement at any time.”
Trump vented to advisers about McCarthy initially blaming him for the riot, Reuters reported.
This apparently prompted McCarthy earlier in the week to reverse his claim, telling reporters on Monday that he did not believe the president had provoked the rebellion in a speech to his supporters before the violence.
McCarthy changed his stance to say that “everyone across the country” was responsible.
He is not the only senior Republican whose tone has changed. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell initially blamed Trump and signaled that he was open to convict him in an impeachment trial. He said he was determined to free the party from Trump’s influence.
But on Wednesday, McConnell voted with most of his Republican colleagues in the Senate against a Senate impeachment trial. The action failed, with Democrats and five Republican senators voting for the trial.
The prospect of Trump’s conviction in an impeachment trial, which could be followed by another vote to prevent him from a future public office, seems increasingly remote.
The abrupt change comes with polls showing the control Trump still has over party bases.
A Morning Consult poll this week found that Trump’s popularity among Republicans – although below historical records – had recovered since the turmoil.
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Of Republican voters interviewed from Saturday to Monday, 81% said they had a favorable view of the former president, up from 76% in mid-January, while 75% said they disapproved of his impeachment.
Trump signaled the prospect of starting a new party that could split the Republican Party’s votes and leave the task of regaining Congress in mid-term virtually impossible. It is probably another factor in the thinking of Republican leaders.
Speaking of NBC, Former Republican deputy Carlos Curbelo on Sunday exposed the dilemma the party faces: a wing of Trump, which he said he wanted to “purge those who resisted the president’s lies”, and an establishment wing that seeks to purify Trump.
“Right now,” he said, “it’s clear that the Trump wing is dominant.”