Dem
51
GOP
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They say that the criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. Yesterday, Donald Trump did nothing to disprove that aphorism, visiting Capitol Hill for the first time since 1/6. His ostensible purpose was to discuss campaign strategy with his fellow Republicans as the election cycle heats up.
The reason we write "ostensible purpose" is that Trump actually spent very little time on campaign strategy. He first met with members of the House Republican Conference. During that confab, the former president settled some scores (attacking Rep. David Valadao, R-CA, for example, for voting in favor of impeachment). He also went on rants about Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the city of Milwaukee (more below), musician Taylor Swift and the Department of Justice. A strange list; it reads like the "answer" to one of those old Johnny Carson "Carnac the Magnificent" questions.
Next up was a press conference where Trump, flanked by a bunch of Republican senators, repeated some of his favorite lies of this campaign cycle. For example, he declared that violent crime is as bad as it's ever been right now, despite the fact that it's down 15% this year and is nowhere near the rates seen in the 1980s. He said that inflation is currently the highest it's been in American history, when in fact it's down to 3.3%, which is far less than the 9% it was last year, and is far, far less than the double-digit inflation of the 1970s. Trump also made his oft-repeated claim that foreign nations are emptying their prisons and sending the inmates to the United states. This is complete fantasy; there is no evidence for any part of this.
After the press conference, it was time for a meeting with Senate Republicans. There was less griping than when Trump met with House Republicans. However, the main story was this:
This is the first time that Trump and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have spoken, much less met in person, since 1/6. You could probably write a book about the body language in that picture. Still, despite the Kentuckian's obvious lack of enthusiasm, and despite the fact that he once condemned the former president for fomenting insurrection, he has since climbed back on board the S.S. Trump and has endorsed his 2024 campaign. Your junior high biology teacher might have taught you that turtles are vertebrates, but clearly that is not the case. McConnell is done being Republican leader in about 8 months and he's done being a senator in 2 years and 8 months. Even if he's not willing to do the Liz Cheney and go full apostate, he could nonetheless ignore Trump without consequences. And yet, there he is, kowtowing before the Dear Leader.
To the extent that Trump did discuss election strategy with the representatives and the senators, it was mostly how to talk about abortion. And his somewhat muddy message, was "don't campaign on abortion" but "lean into the notion that it's a states' rights issue" and also "follow your heart." Those first two are paraphrases; the third he actually said verbatim. In any case, even if Republicans don't want to campaign on abortion, the Democrats are going to give them no choice. Meanwhile, we've pointed out many times that framing it as a states' rights issue is not so simple. That sticks the states' rights advocates with the most extreme manifestations of state-level abortion policy, like what's going on in Texas, while ignoring the fact that some issues, like mailing mifepristone, are inter-state issues. It's also worth pointing out that Trump is uniquely capable of getting away with policy positions that amount to mumble, mumble, mumble. For example, on April 27, he said he would soon be releasing his plan for mifepristone. That's 6 weeks ago; where is it? Few other politicians have that superpower.
In short, Trump's visit had relatively little to do with helping Team GOP plan for the election, and quite a bit to do with reminding everyone who runs the Party. And the fawning supplicants were pleased to give The Donald exactly what he wanted. The senators, for example, had a flag-shaped birthday cake for Trump, since his birthday is today. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) gushed about how sweet and how cute he is. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) told reporters that the Party is 100% behind Trump, and that anyone who is not has been, or will be, purged. Ted Cruz applauded Trump as he exited the meeting with the senators, and kept clapping for more than a minute after the door had closed behind the former president. These are just a few examples of the fawning that went on yesterday. And keep reading for more on the state of the Republican Party in 2024. (Z)