Republicans opposed to former President Trump are not going to win the war for the soul of the party anytime soon — if ever.
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Republicans opposed to former President Trump are not going to win the war for the soul of the party anytime soon — if ever. Rep. Liz Cheney ’s (R-Wyo.) ouster from House leadership, via an overwhelming voice vote Wednesday, makes that clear. Cheney and others of her ilk are not giving up. The question is what kind of impact they can have in their rhetorical guerrilla war against the former president and the GOP leaders whom they brand as his enablers. For now, many are dispirited by Cheney’s fall and what it says about the party writ large. “The outlook is grim,” said Olivia Troye, who broke with Trumpism after having served as a staffer to then-Vice President Mike Pence. Troye is now the director of the Republican Accountability Project. Referring to pro-Trump elected officials, Troye added: “What we are seeing is, there is nothing they won’t do to remain in power, even if it brings danger to this country.” Cheney is not going to slink away. In an interview with Savannah Guthrie of NBC’s “Today” broadcast on Thursday morning, she promised to fight vigorously to retain her congressional seat and held the door open for a 2024 presidential campaign. Cheney also reiterated her criticisms of Trump and his supporters within the GOP, saying the former president has established “a cult of personality” over the party. Former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), a friend of Cheney’s who served two terms in a liberal-leaning district, said that she was more optimistic than some anti-Trump figures. She suggested that there has been a degree of erosion in Trump’s support. “People realize this is getting ridiculous,” Comstock said. “How much do you want to really associate yourself with fools like Marjorie Greene?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is one of Trump’s most fervent backers in Congress, a onetime promotor of the QAnon conspiracy theory who has expressed approval on social media for the assassination of political opponents. She is currently in the news for verbally accosting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at the Capitol. Still, the notion of a Cheney presidential bid seems quixotic at best. According to The Economist’s Interactive Poll Tracker, just 18 percent of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents have a favorable view of Cheney, while 61 percent hold an unfavorable view.
