Member-only story
GOP Senators Need to Admit That Donald Trump Has Lost Control
It’s never going to get better. The sooner Republican senators admit this, the better for all of us.
Donald Trump’s presidency is unraveling. House impeachment inquiry hearings have netted bombshell testimony and are about to move to a new public phase. Soon, Americans will see powerful witnesses lighting up their TV screens.
With the House formally voting for the inquiry, the only questions left are how soon until Trump joins the ranks of impeached presidents, how the Senate trial will unfold — and how much damage the GOP will absorb along the way. Republicans are increasingly worried about what political observers dub a “nightmare scenario,” in which they could experience a “wipeout” in the House and Senate come 2020. It’s time Republicans face their fears, cut their losses, and do the right thing for the country by removing Trump from office.
A resolution Senate Republicans introduced to condemn the House inquiry process shows just how much GOP leaders are scrambling to respond to Trump’s loud demands for loyalty. After House Democrats announced the inquiry vote, and after several GOP senators said they wouldn’t co-sponsor the resolution of condemnation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided to hold off on a vote for now. This will enrage Trump, since he viewed the resolution itself as a meager attempt at criticizing the process when what he wants are Republicans vigorously defending his actions — and few beyond Sen. Lindsey Graham right now are willing to do that.
Some Republicans, like Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, are going with a strategy of saying it “was not appropriate for the President to ask a foreign government to investigate one of his political rivals,” but that such action doesn’t rise to an “impeachable offense.” In addition to being gutless, this approach is ultimately foolhardy, since Trump will view it as an attack — he’s demanding a full-throated defense, a total vindication of what he dubbed a “perfect” call with the Ukrainian president — while it pushes Republicans further out on a limb. They have no idea what’s coming next.
Trump is more unstable than ever. There’s no one left in the White House with good instincts who has any…
