Days after being acquitted in his second impeachment trial last month, Donald Trump issued a statement attacking one of the Republican senators who made this acquittal possible.
“The Republican party will never again be respected or strong with political ‘leaders’ like Senator Mitch McConnell at his command,” the former president said in a statement after the Republican leader criticized him for inciting the January 6 uprising in Capitol. Trump added: “Mitch is a severe, taciturn and serious political hack, and if Republican senators stay with him, they will not win again.”
But the shocking statement is just one of many colorful examples of how Trump has spent his post-presidency so far: attacking fellow Republicans who dare to criticize him while continuing to promote his personal political brand and his own firm control over much of the base of the party.
These antics and behavior can cause problems for the Republican party, which tries to take control of Congress in the mid-term elections of 2022, while continuing to embrace Trumpism as its guiding philosophy. While party leaders have encouraged Trump to focus on efforts to turn the House and the Senate over, the former president sometimes seems more interested in getting back at a handful of Republican politicians who supported his impeachment.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the end of last month, Trump recited the names of each of the 17 Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach or condemn him and suggested that they should be removed from office. “Get rid of them all,” Trump told the CPAC crowd.
Trump is already striving to overthrow these Republicans. The former president promised to help defeat Lisa Murkowski next year, attacking the Alaskan Republican as “disloyal” after she supported her Senate conviction. Trump also supported Max Miller, a former aide who launched a primary challenge against Anthony Gonzalez, one of 10 House Republicans who voted for his impeachment.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said the former president will launch another round of endorsements in the coming days, including one for a major challenger running against an incumbent Republican.
“There are endorsements soon for people running for re-election, as well as open positions, and in one case it will likely be a major challenge against a Republican in office,” Miller told the Guardian. “Your endorsement is still the biggest endorsement in politics. He plans to use this. “
Trump’s attacks on “disloyal” Republicans appear to be the latest example of the former president’s vindictive attitude towards politics and business, said Michael D’Antonio, author of The Truth About Trump.
“He is a person who believes very much in getting revenge on anyone who believes he has harmed him,” said D’Antonio. “It’s always a question of ‘Are you with me? And if you are not with me, then you are against me and must be destroyed. ‘”
Miller emphasized that Trump remains “committed” to working with party committee groups, such as the National Republican Committee (RNC), to elect candidates who support the former president’s “America first” agenda. But Trump has been adamant that anyone who uses his name or image to raise funds must be pre-approved before doing so.
In a fiery statement released earlier this month, the former president criticized “Rinos”, which means “Republicans in name only”, for using his image to raise money for his campaigns.
“I fully support the Republican party and major Republican committees, but I do not support Rhinos and fools, and it is not their right to use my image or image to raise funds,” said Trump. “So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people who don’t have the Republican Party’s best interests in mind.”
Instead, Trump encouraged his supporters to donate to his own political action committee, the Save America Pac. According to Miller, Pac already has more than $ 80 million in the bank, with about a year and a half ahead of it until the midterm elections.
Trump’s efforts to direct contributions to his own Pac, where he and his advisers have much more control over how funds are spent, have led to criticism that the former president is more focused on raising money for himself rather than help the Republican Party regain control of Congress.
“He doesn’t want anything to affect his ability to raise money for the super Pac he created, so he wants to divert the maximum amount of money from the RNC to that Pac,” said Michael Steele, former president of the RNC and a frequent Trump critic. “This is all transactional for him. It is not personal. It is the next level of financial transactions that Trump wants to carry out. “
Capitalizing on your political brand may be Trump’s best financial outlook at the moment. Trump Organization’s revenue fell sharply last year, and Trump is personally responsible for $ 300 million in loans that are due over the next four years, according to a New York Times analysis of its tax records. His financial problems come as the Manhattan public prosecutor launches a broad investigation into the Trump Organization’s business.
“If you look at all the danger he faces legally and the near collapse of many of his businesses, he is looking for a revenue stream, and no dollar amount is too small for him to fight,” said D’Antonio of the Trump’s latest fundraising efforts. “I think this is his new business.”
The RNC has also continued to raise funds based on the Trump name, and high-ranking Republicans have generally tried to minimize any tension between the former president and party leaders, insisting that they are united in their goal of countering the agenda. Joe Biden. “The Republican civil war has been canceled,” said Sen. Rick Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, in a memo widely shared late last month.
Still, when Scott met Trump at his resort in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, earlier this month, the former president made no commitment to stay out of the Senate primary election. “He didn’t say he would,” Scott told CNN on Tuesday, when asked whether Trump indicated he would engage in primary battles. “I’m sure he wants to help, so the best thing to do is to participate in whoever wins the primaries and come back later.”
Scott is one of several Republican leaders who have traveled from Washington to Palm Beach in recent weeks to consult Trump at Mar-a-Lago. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and House minority leader Steve Scalise have also visited the Florida resort since Trump left the White House.
Even incumbent Republicans, such as Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, traveled to Mar-a-Lago to raise funds and meet with Trump, with the apparent hope of securing the former president’s endorsement and avoiding any primary challenges while seeking reelection.
Trump has already endorsed several Republican senators for re-election next year, including Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jerry Moran of Kansas, and Miller said the ex-president’s next round of endorsements will include more Republican senators.
“Everyone is coming to Mar-a-Lago or trying to speak to President Trump to ask for his endorsement,” said Miller.
Widespread efforts to appeal to Trump underscore the enormous influence the ex-president still has on the Republican Party, even after leaving office. But Trump and party leaders could be on a collision course if the former president continues to target incumbents and redirect the money to his own Pac, potentially jeopardizing Republicans’ hopes of resuming Congress.
“They are about to face each other because their interests do not align,” said Steele. “Trump is not in the business of expanding the party. Your goal is to have people who support you and you can afford to lose people who do not support you ”.