Despite what the Republican National Committee may say about its continuing support for Donald Trump, there is increasing evidence that the GOP is a very much more splintered group following the attempted coup at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob. This disarray extends to GOP members of Congress. It is reported that the 127 who voted to overthrow president-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory are facing fierce backlash from donors, constituents, and even some GOP colleagues.
The party also faces a threat to its financial base. Several of the most powerful and normally non-political business federations in Washington denounced the chaos this week in stinging language, including the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable. Several major business leaders voiced alarm at the threat it posed to a democracy which most Americans had taken for granted and at the role of these rogue Republican lawmakers.
Then there are the evangelicals who represent roughly one quarter of Americans and who supported Trump and the GOP for their pro-religion views. White evangelicals embraced the president, some begrudgingly and some enthusiastically, because he addressed many of their concerns. Now, they are talking about finally witnessing an evangelical reckoning and the about the dangers of Trumpism. A lot of introspection is happening among evangelicals.
There is clearly a conundrum wherein the GOP finds itself beholden to voters who’ve internalized the president’s falsehoods and were emboldened by Trump’s divisive speak. There is little doubt that a schism exists among Trump’s supporters which may be hard to quickly mend. In one report shortly after the Capitol assault, a veteran GOP pollster Frank Luntz carried out a spotlight group composed of a few Trump voters from different states. In it, he stated that they fell into three camps:
- those who consider the truth that President-elect Joe Biden won the election and believe that it’s time for Trump move on;
- those who believe that the election was stolen from Trump, but he nonetheless ought to move on; and
- those who insist it was stolen and Trump ought to continue to struggle in some way.
Rep. Nancy Mace, a newly elected Republican freshman from South Carolina and a strong past supporter of Trump, openly declared in the media: “That legacy has now been wiped out,” Mace stated. “It is gone, and we have to start over from scratch.” Whether the president is impeached or censured, the fact is that significant damage has been done to the Republican Party. It would appear that Trump supporters and GOP members of Congress are ready to declare war with each other. The best thing for the future of the GOP is for Trump and his legacy to quietly fade away into the abyss. As long as Trump has any future involvement with the party, there will continue to be even more destructive disarray. His ties to the party need to be cut ASAP. Otherwise, the internal healing can’t start soon enough for most Republican supporters!
FROLITICKS 
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