What Happened This Week In Washington — And Georgia

As many of my colleagues pointed out, Trump’s speech just now … was surreal. Trump repeatedly said that he had either won the election (he didn’t) or that he would never concede (he hasn’t).

But it made me think of this analysis from the AP published earlier in November. One thing they found in their reporting is that, “[S]ome Trump allies acknowledge privately that using the courts to actually reverse Biden’s victory isn’t the point of their efforts. … Rather than actually overturn the election results, Trump allies say the goal is to help keep the president’s most loyal supporters engaged and energized for whatever he might pursue after he leaves office — even if that means leaving them ill-informed about the reality of what has unfolded in the election.”

This, if true, is disheartening for our democracy, because there are signs it is working. Distrust in the electoral process — especially among Republicans — is now at an all-time high.

Of course, the fact that this is all anonymously sourced should give one pause, but that unfortunately is the reality of this administration — leaks with few willing to go on the record. And it’s hard to have watched that press conference and ascribe any real strategy in it, in fact, it might be dangerous to give that level of credence to Trump’s claims, but at any rate, this does set a true troubling precedent in our democracy that we can’t undersell.

To answer your question, Sarah, I actually do think that losing control of the Senate will serve as a turning point in elected Republicans’ relationship with Trump. It will be aided by the fact that Trump also won’t be in Washington anymore and every tweet will no longer be newsworthy.

The past four years haven’t been particularly fun for many Trump-skeptic elected Republicans, and I’m sure they would like to get out from under his thumb. But Trump’s bully pulpit, the base’s enthusiasm for the man and the muddled 2020 results made it difficult for them to make a discreet argument for why the party should distance itself. The high-minded ideas of decorum and democratic norms weren’t really working/didn’t work in 2016.

Now, the Georgia runoffs are a discreet, dramatic, highly televised event that Republicans who wish to turn on Trump can use to greater effect than probably anything else during the Trump presidency. After all, nothing else matters if you can’t win.

(Btw, Trump knows this intimately, and that’s why he has launched such a campaign to convince voters he won. He likely knows he’s leaving, but his future power depends on whether the base sees him as a winner or loser.)

Looking at The Washington Post’s list of Republican senators and where they stand on voting to certify the Electoral College results, the likeliest GOP presidential aspirants in the chamber — in my mind — are planning to oppose the count. Cruz, Hawley and Rick Scott all plan to vote against certification. Meanwhile, Cotton is planning to oppose it. A couple other possible candidates — Sasse and Tim Scott — also plan to oppose it, but they seem less likely to run. The one who hasn’t revealed his plans yet is Rubio.