On Wednesday, in a piece for Salon , politics and feminism writer Amanda Marcotte suggested that Republicans’ steadfast support for Donald Trump has set them up for failure.
“There’s simply no winning with this guy, and Republicans should have realized that long ago,” she wrote.
“Sure, there would have been some short-term political pain as the base whined and cried about the removal of Trump, but in the long run Republicans would have been much better off without him.”
Marcotte called Nancy Pelosi ‘s decision to move forward with impeachment proceedings a “gift-wrapped opportunity” to take Trump — who she called a “chaos-demon” — out of office. Ultimately, Republicans didn’t take Pelosi’s opportunity, and now, Marcotte says, they may never recover from the fallout.
“They turned her gift down, and now they’re looking at Great Depression levels of unemployment, soaring death rates and a president who looks at this disaster and starts spitballing about how maybe the solution can be found in the household products aisle at Walgreens. “
Marcotte pointed to the battle between Trump’s re-election campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee as evidence of the problematic situation Republicans have put themselves in. Notably, a recent memo from the committee advised candidates to distance themselves from Trump while responding to coronavirus questions and focus only on the China Travel Ban.
In response, Vanity Fair reported that Trump’s campaign blasted the suggestion and claimed that Republican candidates who are aiming for victory would only be able to do so if they fight alongside the president. Speaking to Politico , Trump adviser Justin Clark claimed that candidates who follow the “bad advice” in the memo do so “at their own peril.”
Even if Republicans continue to swear fealty to Trump, Marcotte says they risk the possibility that Trump will eventually throw them under the bus.
trump’s approval rating, by age group: pic.twitter.com/0xhftp9XYX
— G Elliott Morris (@gelliottmorris) April 29, 2020
Columnist Paul Waldman recently claimed that Republicans are coming to the realization that Trump’s coronavirus spin is destined to fail in the face of reality. He lambasted the Trump administration’s coronavirus response and said that White House aides are attempting to steer Trump away from commenting on the health and medical implications of the pandemic and instead focus on the economy.
Amid this purported realization, Senate Republicans are under pressure to be tougher on Trump amid criticism at his administration’s coronavirus response, The Hill reported. Regardless, GOP strategists are allegedly pushing for GOP lawmakers to distance themselves from Trump’s COVID-19 problems, while others believe that more oversight of his administration’s response would play into the hands of Democrats looking to dethrone the president.
