(NewsNation Now) — Since the attack on the Capitol and the transition of the presidency, the future of the Republican Party has been unclear for some while others see an unwavering path for the party.
Despite his presidential defeat, second impeachment, and Twitter ban, former President Donald Trump still appears to have an influence on his party.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago this week, just days after saying the former president “bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell abruptly switched from blaming Trump for provoking the Jan. 6 riot to later supporting the idea that an impeachment trial for doing that now that he is no longer in office is unconstitutional.
A window to a new post-Trump direction for the GOP appears to be closing. Republican strategist Kenny Cunningham says that many of the party faithful appreciate the Trump record and respect what is called Trumpism.
“There’s a lot of people within the Republican party that have opinions about Trump good and bad. But what people in Republican circles will tell you is he was strong on the issues, and he accomplished a lot for conservatives,” Cunningham said.
Earlier this month, 147 Republican House members voted to overturn election results even after hearing Trump’s remarks on the day of the riot and even after the riot itself.
Yet now it’s the 10 Republicans voted to impeach Trump, including the third-ranking Republican in the House, Liz Cheney, who are being vilified by some of their colleagues and who may draw primary challengers.
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Others believe Trump was and still is being treated unfairly, even if they do concede Trump lost the election.
“I saw the treatment that the media had towards Trump and how it always seemed negative. If you contrast it now in the last week, and you look at the kind of questions that now President Biden is getting, I mean, it’s a day and night difference,” Cunningham said.
Yet others point out that no matter how many votes Trump won, he still lost and that Trump adherents who further the stolen election narrative are alienating the broad swath of the electorate.
With GOP infighting happening, Democrats have been spending time and money registering voters for coming elections. Their success was undeniable last November with Democratic Senate victories in Georgia and Arizona.