For House Republicans, this means that members who have associated with white supremacists, used violent political rhetoric, spread Trump’s false claims about the election and compared pandemic public health restrictions to the Nazis’ treatment of Jews are becoming a bigger part of the party’s public face — a role that may only grow if Trump continues to embrace and publicly boost them.
“It stuns me and surprises me that some of the voters still send these people back. But that’s their choice and, as frustrating as that is to me, if that’s who they sent, then their voices are going to be heard here,” said Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), whose views align more with the party’s pre-Trump brand of conservatism. “It’s the job of the voters to discipline — it’s the job of the voters to decide who gets to come [to Congress] and who doesn’t get to come.”
Some House Republicans pushed back against the idea that Greene, Boebert and their cohorts hold outsize influence, noting that none of the 13 members who voted for the infrastructure bill have been punished by the party in any way, even if their offices have been on the receiving end of threatening and vulgar messages from voters.
“I don’t think it represents the mainstream, and sometimes the minority part of a party is the loudest,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) who voted for the roads, bridges and broadband funding.
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