A Republican narrative

by | Jun 29, 2022 | Editor's Blog | 5 comments

Yesterday, the January 6 committee hearings became as compelling as the Watergate hearings. Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ assistant gave blockbuster testimony describing what happened at the Ellipse and White House on January 6. Cassidy Hutchinson described a president eager to go to the Capitol to support, if not lead, the protesters that were assaulting Congress. She gave a blow by blow of the people trying to get Trump to act. And she suggested that a lot of people in the White House knew that the goal of the rally was to try to stop the certification of votes—and they knew it before January 6. 

The January 6 hearings have been so successful because the committee has allowed witnesses to tell the story. And almost all of those witnesses have been Republicans, many of whom were Trump loyalists. Nobody can claim that Democrats are creating biased narratives because Democrats aren’t talking. The story unfolding is damning, but to too many Republicans, it might not matter. 

The Twitter account of the Republican House Judiciary Committee members routinely tries to discredit the January 6 committee. Yesterday, they implied that Hutchinson’s testimony wasn’t credible. Members of Trump’s inner circle were out to discredit her. The rank and file all called it hearsay. But for these Republicans, truth no longer matters. They just want power. 

And that’s not how most people see it. Even Republicans who have been skeptical that Trump would be held accountable believe Hutchinson’s testimony was damning. Conservative columnist John Podhoretz wrote in Commentary Magazine, “…[T]here’s no question now that Donald Trump is staring down the barrel of an indictment for seditious conspiracy against the government of the United States.” Brett Baier on Fox News called her testimony “compelling.”

So what might the political fallout be? Well, it could make the political environment a little better for Democrats. It certainly won’t change the minds of any Trump loyalists, but it might make conservative voters who aren’t Trumpists less likely to show up in a midterm. In 2018, a lot the conservative voters who put Trump into office stayed home on election day, either because they regretted their vote or because they were disengaged. The January 6 Committee is making clear that Trump and most of his inner circle had little regard for their constitutional obligations. To many moderate voters, Republicans who claim they adhere to the constitution look like hypocrites if they’re giving Trump and his cronies a pass. 

It’s probably too early to tell what impact the January 6 Committee will have, but they’ve successfully laid out a strong case against Trump and his administration with few people willing or able to credibly rebut it. And the problem the GOP’s got is that the people making the case against Trump are almost all fellow Republicans, including a number of Trumpists. Combined with more engaged younger women voters, the political environment is a bit better for Democrats right now than it was a month ago. If gas prices continue to fall, November could be more neutral than Republican-leaning. We’ve got a ways to go, though.

5 Comments

  1. Rick Gunter

    I continue to be embarrassed that Mark Meadows served as my old district’s U.S. House member. Good grief! What where my former mountain neighbors thinking.when they elected him. They used to be able to discern character or its lack.

  2. Mike Leonard

    Headline in Wednesday issue of USA Today: “Aide portrays crazed Trump”. But most of us already knew that.

  3. JB

    “To many moderate voters, Republicans who claim they adhere to the constitution look like hypocrites if they’re giving Trump and his cronies a pass.”

    This raises two immediate questions in my mind:
    1. WHAT “moderate voters”? Do such creatures still exist? They must be on the most endangered species list.
    2. Since when do Republicans care about looking like hypocrites? Does it matter if they do? Will any of the rank and file even remember this by November?

    As for the hearsay argument, it’s laughable it’s face. By legal definition, something you witness firsthand is the diametric opposite of hearsay. If Hutchinson had testified to something that Mark Meadows said he heard someone else say THAT would be hearsay. But what he tells her directly, or she hears him say to someone else is NOT.

    And all of this is unsettling to Brett Baier today, but by November he and all the rest will have rationalized it, dismissed it or forgotten it ever happened. They will. Fall in line, as they always do. Because winning is all that matters. Governing is an afterthought, if indeed it is a thought at all.

  4. Richard J Kennedy

    You lead with (idiot-NC)? Why? I was going to share this with my republican friends and that’s a non starter. It wasn’t necessary. I have discussions with all of my friends and value their opinion. They might not support Meadows anymore, but they will react to obvious slams. You lost an opportunity for me.

    • Lee Dennis

      You yourself lead with an apt descriptor (idiot-NC). To share with your Republican friends, copy-paste-delete any reference to Ms. Hutchinson’s position. (It’s what Li’l Donnie would do– “a nobody.”) I do hope you and your friends will revert to Country Club Republicans — it’s a big Country and any adult citizen is welcome to join the Club — where we put national self-reliance AND the best interests of our community of citizens first.

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