The self-proclaimed moderates in the House GOP conference know that the MAGA extremists aren’t good for their party. But they fall in line with the extremists time and time again. Most of us Democrats have stories about our Republican colleagues confiding in us when the cameras aren’t rolling. They’ll complain about Trumpism and the extremists. They’ll tell us they’re disgusted by their extreme MAGA colleagues. And yet they don’t band together, and they don’t speak up. Their silence enables the extremists and threatens the health of our democracy.
Most of us Democrats have stories about our Republican colleagues confiding in us when the cameras aren’t rolling.
Over the last nine months, for example, they stood by and watched then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., shepherd through an extreme agenda to ban abortion, attack marginalized people and slash education dollars while helping wealthy individuals and corporations cheat on their taxes. Working people continue to struggle across this country, and the already wide wealth divide is widening further. These are the issues that need our attention but, instead, Republicans seem to only stand for protecting one deeply flawed and dangerous former president.
For many of us, this week’s speaker’s vote was not just about Rep. McCarthy and his failed leadership. It was also about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and our continuing and desperate search for Republicans, any Republicans, who are committed to governing and supporting our democratic institutions.
We have not forgotten that then-Minority Leader McCarthy on a Jan. 8, 2021, phone call with Republican House members said then-President Donald Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 had been “atrocious and totally wrong.” He complained that Trump had “incited people” to attack the U.S. Capitol and said Trump’s Jan. 6 remarks were “not right by any shape or any form.” He went even further on Jan. 10, when he told colleagues, “I’ve had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it.”
At the time it seemed like maybe, just maybe, we’d hit rock bottom and Republicans were ready to be active participants in pulling themselves and the country out of the dangerous fever dream that is Trumpism. But no. McCarthy’s candor and courage didn’t hold. Weeks later he made his pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to ask for forgiveness and to kiss Trump’s ring.
With that supplication, he signaled to the former president and his nihilist supporters in the House that McCarthy would not hold him accountable and would not be a check on the extremists. He left his principles at Trump’s feet because he didn’t have the mettle to stand for something larger than himself.
But, like those private conversations with my Republican colleagues reveal, he’s not the only one.
My constituents in Vermont are deeply worried about our democracy. It is the main topic of conversation when I’m home.
My constituents in Vermont are deeply worried about our democracy. It is the main topic of conversation every weekend when I’m home. They’ll ask, “When will the reasonable Republicans speak up? How bad does it need to get? Are they going to wait until it’s too late?”
I have the same questions.
Based on their words and actions since McCarthy lost the speakership, the so-called moderates still haven’t grasped the reality of the situation. Rather than take stock of the extremism and lack of purpose in their conference, they’ve taken to television and social media to blame Democrats for their chaos.
As I write this, Trump has now inserted himself into the speaker’s race and has endorsed his ultra MAGA protector, Jim Jordan, to be speaker. This, after a core group of MAGA Republicans in the House attempted to draft Trump himself to be the new speaker. Trump has said he is considering a trip to Capitol Hill this Tuesday to speak to the GOP conference and be a “unifying force.” Whether he does or doesn’t, the idea of it should be terrifying to all Americans who believe in the rule of law and the Constitution. We know what happened the last time he threatened to come to the Capitol.
There’s no other way to put it: The GOP is in an all-out civil war. Republicans are fighting over whether they have any principles or values left or if they’re merely a political machine being used to defend the disgraced and dangerous former president. This civil war is long overdue, and the Trump appeasers need to take a stand for the country. They must confront the rot poisoning the House and other democratic institutions. Without this kind of reckoning, without their courage, we will be right back to this same dangerous place in a few weeks or months. And it will become more difficult to beat back the forces hellbent on destroying our democracy.
We all, regardless of party, have to stand for democratic principles. We have a solemn responsibility to look out for our constituents and protect our nation’s democracy. We must stand against those who are only guided by self-interest and self-preservation. If my colleagues continue to cover for a disgraced ex-president who normalizes death threats and personally attacks anyone who dares disagree with him, the nation will continue to be held hostage to extremism. And we will have nothing left to defend.