The clean break from Trump that some Republicans and almost every Democrat in Congress had hoped for is clearly never coming — instead leaving a party where the former president still vexes leaders but most refuse to fully confront him. The 17 congressional Republicans who supported Trump’s second impeachment are outliers at best and outcasts at worst.
But the Trump vise pressures every Republican differently, and there’s still a wing of the party that wants him to announce ASAP if he’s planning on running in 2024. This GOP group says that if Trump is going to take another presidential plunge, he should jump in on stronger footing than he was able to muster in 2020 — which includes fewer falsehoods about the last election and more focus on the next one.
“I get it, I get it,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) of leaders’ concerns about Trump’s presidential campaign disrupting the midterms. “If President Trump is going to run for president again, the sooner he announces the more focused he gets on the future. Talking about comparing and contrasting rather than looking backward, would be the hope.”
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