Most people running for president would try to hide—or at least downplay—the worst, most dangerous thing they’d ever done, but Donald Trump is a special kind of boy. He’s embraced the ruffians who besieged the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, going so far as to call the currently incarcerated among them “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots,” while regularly playing the J6 Prison Choir’s version of the national anthem at his rallies. (🎶 “And the spray for the bears/Mike Pence swinging in air/gave proof through the night/that our flagpole was still stuck in that dude’s face … over there!” 🎶)
But while Trump can’t help being Trump any more than a flesh-eating bacterium can stop devouring flesh—no matter how many Whole Foods avocado and pine nut kale salads you put in front of it—there are plenty of congressional Republicans with still-functioning consciences who understand what a menace Trump is to U.S. and Western democracy.
Sadly, all their spines stitched together would scarcely be enough to keep Lindsey Graham’s head upright in his Mar-a-Lago highchair.
Case in point: Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is unequivocal in his condemnation of the Jan. 6 rioters who attempted to end U.S. democracy. Indeed, CNN’s Manu Raju asked Tillis about Trump’s recent praise of the J6 Kakistocracy Choir, and Tillis drew a sharp moral line:
For the nontweeters:
Asked GOP Sen. Thom Tillis about Trump defending the Jan. 6 prisoners, and he said: “Folks, I was the last Senate member out of the chamber on January 6th. I saw Capitol police officers bleeding, bruised, and I saw damage to a certain extent as we were exiting. To call those people patriots is not in my lexicon,” he told me
Wow, that’s so refreshi- … oh, fuck—what fresh hell is this?
For the nontweeters:
Tillis called it a “respectful disagreement,” and added: “I’ve made a statement that I think the president’s the presumptive nominee and we need to get behind him and support him.“
“Mr. Trump, you literally attempted to end America when you summoned your mob, pointed them at the Capitol—knowing full well that they were armed and angry—and refused to call them off even after a deadly riot broke out, going so far as to suggest that Mike Pence deserved to be hanged. I respectfully disagree! Also, four more years!”
Sure, it has to be difficult to go against the party that’s succored you lo these many years, but this is our country we’re talking about. If you hire a new city zookeeper and two weeks later notice he’s selling panda-leather onesies for $12 a pop on eBay, maybe it’s time to admit your mistake. Maybe I’m naive, but attempting to burn the country you vowed to protect to the ground seems like it should be an automatic DQ. But then what do I know about patriotism? I opposed the Iraq war.
This is nothing new, of course. Plenty of old-guard Republicans have expressed reservations about Trump, and some have even come forward to say they won’t endorse him—or have issued clear rebukes of the GOP’s now-undisputed standard-bearer. But few Republicans not named Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger have actually risen to meet the moment.
Mike Pence, whom Trump essentially tried to murder, recently made news when he refused to endorse Trump for president. But he somehow couldn’t bring himself to endorse President Joe Biden. Because who’s worse, really—the maniac who consistently fawns over murderous dictators and wants to turn our country into a lawless, authoritarian kleptocracy, or the guy who’d like to raise the wealthiest Americans’ tax rate by 2.6%? Psst, assholes. The country will survive slightly higher taxes on rich people. It won’t survive another four years of a rageaholic wannabe dictator who’s singularly focused on blind revenge against his critics.
The Biden campaign recently released a list of former senior Trump staffers who now believe Trump is “too dangerous” to endorse. In addition to Pence and former Trump primary rival Nikki Haley, it includes the following:
His Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly
His National security Advisor, John Bolton
His National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster
His Defense Secretary, Mark Esper
His Defense Secretary, Gen. James Mattis
His Attorney General, Bill Barr
His Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson
Kelly’s name in particular stands out—partly because, as Trump’s former chief of staff, he was in a position to observe him up close, and partly because he’s been searing with respect to Trump’s lack of character, penchant for self-aggrandizement, and piss-poor understanding of venerable American values.
In October, Kelly gave CNN a scathing statement when asked about Trump’s qualifications for high office.
“What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.
“A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women,” Kelly continued. “A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who cavalierly suggests that a selfless warrior who has served his country for 40 years in peacetime and war should lose his life for treason – in expectation that someone will take action. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
“There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”
With all due respect, Gen. Kelly, there’s a lot more that can be said. And you need to start saying it. Over and over and over and over again. Because this shit is real, and you’re in a unique position to help save our democracy. So, respectfully, what the hell are you waiting for?
The same goes for Pence and Haley, who claim to love this country but won’t wade past the roped-off kiddie section of the lake in order to rescue a drowning man.
And Mitt Romney—thank you, sincerely, for being a voice of not-unreason. But what we really need is a voice of reason. And a strong one at that. You know you want Biden to win, so endorse him already. And if you can’t bring yourself to do that, at least get your anti-Trump message out there more frequently and forcefully.
As former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming—one of the few Republicans who’s taking the Trump threat as seriously as it needs to be taken—said in a recent interview with “The Late Show’s” Stephen Colbert, nearly all congressional Republicans know that Trump’s lies are corrosive to democracy and the rule of law, but they’re far too chickenshit to do anything about it.
Transcript!
COLBERT: “What percentage of the people, of your former colleagues in the Republican Party, who support the idea of the, for lack of a better word, The Big Lie—what percentage of them do you think actually believe it?”
CHENEY: “I mean, like, .1? I mean, in terms of elected officials …”
COLBERT: “Even though, I don’t even know the number, but the vast majority of them say they believe it.”
CHENEY: “Yeah, yeah. Elected Republicans—you know, maybe five—not very many, actually believe what Trump is saying. Actually believe …”
COLBERT: “Do they not have any idea of what the damage that does to our nation and to our democracy to promulgate that lie? Or do they just not care?”
CHENEY: “Both, both.”
COLBERT: “Is there anything more cynical that you can think of politically—weaker, or more cynical than that, than to lie to the American people for your own political power and destroy the thing you want to be part of?”
CHENEY: “… The way to think about it is, America’s adversaries would love nothing more than to convince us that our democracy doesn’t work, and right now you have Donald Trump and the Republicans who support him doing the work of our adversaries. And it is a really dangerous thing we’re seeing, and it’s especially dangerous because the president of the United States is responsible for enforcing the laws. He’s responsible for ensuring the laws are faithfully executed.”
You may not like Cheney—I sure don’t. But on this issue, she’s doing vital work. And unlike most (formerly) mainstream Republicans who clearly know better, she’s speaking clearly and forcefully about the dangers we currently face.
And it’s not even like betting on Trump is a sure thing. If you fools really crave an invitation to Mar-a-Lago, at this point you’d be better off sucking up to New York Attorney General Letitia James.
What this country desperately needs right now is more Liz Cheneys and fewer Thom Tillises. Unfortunately, what we’re actually getting is a useless, shambolic army of Lindsey Grahams and Jim Jordans. And we sure deserve better than that, don’t we?
Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link.