Former RNC Chairman Says McConnell, Pence, Graham, Others Distancing from Trump

This site and this writer have spent the last two to three weeks focused upon the split, now open war, in the GOP, just as we head into primary season. The coverage and opinion continue today for one reason, more events occur near daily that confirm the split is ratcheting up and control of Congress is on the line. There is a GOP presumption that they will win majorities in the House and Senate this fall. And yet, a house divided cannot stand. The GOP is simply unable to accommodate Trump’s self-centered and selfish outlook, nor his obsession with loyalty.

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The split was inevitable over that divide alone. But now, there is a sudden run to the doorway that many are interpreting the pace as inside knowledge that much more serious evidence regarding the GOP’s participation – especially within the White House – regarding an attempted coup, is about to drop, and the power players that have the freedom to do it are putting as much distance as practical between themselves and Trump.

Michael Steele, former RNC Chairman laid out reality on Morning Joe today and it sure sounds like he is aware of impending developments (but only on background) and used generalizations to make the same point: (Video Below)

They’re not liking what they’re hearing. They’re beginning to see and realize how impactful that day was. There was a lot more that was true about what was being said about Jan. 6 than untrue. The untrue part is what Trump and his minions were putting out there. What you saw in the leaders is a contrast in leadership.

Beginning to realize? The realization was there all along. I interpret his point as “they realize that what is to come will be even more impactful, dangerously so.” Steele then emphasized the different priorities. The Trump camp only cares about its own viability in 2024 and truly doesn’t care about the results of 2022, except to the extent that the candidates are the most loyal to Trump, not the most likely to win. He then quickly got back to January 6th, which I think is the “new” realization, that they’ve heard things from the Pence and Cheney camp.

“But right now, you’re seeing all of these pressure points in this political space around what’s happening on the Jan. 6 commission and what the polling is showing on the ground, that it is softening voters toward the democratic view, small ‘d’ democratic view about Jan. 6.”

So, yes, the “pressure points” are the accelerant. The candidates and priorities were going to drive a wedge through the party no matter what. But the intensity with which it’s happening now, especially over the last two weeks, denouncing Trump’s speech, denouncing the RNC’s pronouncement, done by the power in the party, denouncing Trump’s assertion of power to do what he wanted, by Pence, McConnell, Graham, DeSantis (quiet war), and Romney, and surely others, with serious intensity, belie that they know something.

And why wouldn’t they? A Cheney sits on the committee. Nothing says “GOP Legacy Power” like a Cheney. Last, Marc Short testified before the committee and the questions alone would tell him a lot about what the committee already knows.

The Select Committee has some bombs it will soon drop and the real power players are getting as far away as they can, as fast as they can, without causing a “scene.”

Jason Miciak

@JasonMiciak believes a day without learning is a day not lived. He is a political writer, features writer, author, and attorney. He is a Canadian-born dual citizen who spent his teen and college years in the Pacific Northwest and has since lived in seven states. He now enjoys life as a single dad of a young girl, writing from the beaches of the Gulf Coast. He loves crafting his flower pots, cooking, and currently studies philosophy of science, religion, and non-math principles behind quantum mechanics and cosmology. Please feel free to contact with any concerns.