Prominent Republicans who used not to be frightened are now scared of Trump after the past week, which means that the door is now opening for a serious bipartisan movement to oust this president and his administration.
During an appearance on CBS’s Face The Nation, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius relayed the growing fear of Trump among Republicans, “Talking this week to several prominent Republicans, people who have not been sharp critics of Donald Trump, I heard the same thing, which is: This guy scares me. And I think the reason that people were scared this week is that they saw impulsive behavior, they saw a kind of vengeful, brooding about past slights. They saw a willingness to be — to be — just basically to lie to the country, not to tell the truth. And I think — one person said to me, there are no guardrails on this presidency. Another person said, this is Richard Nixon on steroids. In other words, this is kind of a hyperactive — so, I think that’s where we are at the end of the week. A lot of people are scared. And they wonder, how do we get out of this?”
The whispers that Republicans are looking for a way out have been getting louder off the record ever since the President accused Barack Obama of wiretapping him.
Republicans really appear to have believed that they could manage Trump. What they are finding out is that they greatly underestimated Trump’s capacity for misuse of executive power, the Russia scandal, and Trump’s own mental and emotional instability.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
A bad 2018 midterm election result combined with growing Trump scandals could be the forces needed to create a bipartisan movement that would lead to the president’s removal. It is important to note that political scandals usually take years to unfold. It understandable that people want Trump gone now, but the reality is that the nation is likely looking at two more years for the Russia scandal unfold.
Republicans in Congress are trying to jam through their agenda because they know they are living on borrowed time. The wheels are going to come off of Trump soon, but before they do, Republicans are trying to get all they can.
The ground is shifting when it comes to Republicans and Trump. The fact that a sizable number of Republicans want a special prosecutor to investigate Trump demonstrates that the president’s support within his own party is cracking.
If Republicans are really scared and looking for a way out of their Trump mistake, Democrats would be happy to work with them on getting an independent investigation into Trump and Russia.
The door is opening a crack towards impeachment, and if Trump keeps dumping gasoline on the fire, enough Republicans will eventually join Democrats in walking in.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
