A former Republican senator said that Donald Trump has become the “ringmaster” of the GOP, suggesting that conservatives should form a new party.
William Cohen, who represented the state of Maine and served as Defense secretary under President Bill Clinton, spoke out against the group of Republicans who have backed Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Cohen responded to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s pledge to object during Congress’s tally of the Electoral College results showing Joe Biden as the winner of the race. He said this action is “shameful,” adding that lawmakers should no longer be following Trump’s lead.
“We have to remember that the current occupant of the White House is a ringmaster and what he expects to do is snap his whip and all the elephants hop up on chairs,” Cohen said, via The Hill . “What they have to understand is he is going to continue to snap the whip whether he’s in office or out of office. And every time they’re going to have to jump up and sit on that stool to satisfy him and his supporters.”
Cohen went on to say that Trump will always “up the ante” and that he could never be satisfied, so Republicans should stop bending to his will.
“There’s nothing in him. There’s no moral core, and so they are going to be extorted or bribed in order to avoid a primary in 2022 or 2024,” he said.
Cohen went on to say that there are few members of the GOP standing up for the rule of law, warning that those standing with Trump will always be held hostage by him. He suggested that the only way to move on could be to create a new party that abides by the rule of law and is faithful to the American people.
Trump has continued to claim that he was the real winner of the presidential election and that the victory was stolen from him through widespread illegal voting. But both the president’s campaign and legal allies have been unable to prove any of these claims in court.
Trump and some of his closest allies have reportedly been considering a plan to have Vice President Mike Pence refuse to certify the results when he serves over the tallying later this month. As The Inquisitr reported, political experts point out that Pence does not hold this power, only presiding over the process but having no say over the outcome.
