‘There’s enormous frustration’: Trump forces Republicans off-script again

Source: Politico | August 30, 2022 | Meridith McGraw, Andrew Desiderio, Nicholas Wu and Kyle Cheney

Having once decried the search of Mar-a-Lago, defenders of the ex-president are now warning of civil unrest if the investigation leads to prosecution.

The investigation into Donald Trump’s handling of classified national security records is forcing Republicans into a strained defense during a pre-midterm sprint in which they’d much rather be talking about Joe Biden.

After having decried the FBI’s search of the ex-president’s home, many Trump defenders went silent upon the release on Friday of the probable-cause affidavit that revealed the extent of Trump’s efforts to hold onto the top-secret documents. GOP worries about the developments of the case and Trump announcing a 2024 run before November are giving way to a subtle, broader warning about putting the former president too much on the ballot this fall.

“Republicans should focus on defeating Democrats, and every Democrat should have the word Biden in front of their name,” said Trump ally and former Republican Speaker Newt Gingrich. “The Republican focus should be to win the election in November. Trump will do a fine job defending himself. He’ll be fine.”

Some top Republicans acknowledge the growing angst and concern, as it’s become clearer that Trump may have been warehousing some of America’s most sensitive secrets in an unsecured basement — and even refused to turn them over when the National Archives and Justice Department tried to recover them. One top Republican fundraiser asked to describe the mood among donors, said, “There is enormous frustration.”

“The question is, is there willingness to express that frustration,” the fundraiser added. “I don’t know the answer to that. But there is real frustration, and with the exception of people who are too stupid to understand the need to be frustrated, it is nearly universal.”

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In the weeks since the search of Mar-a-Lago, the former president has been off the airwaves, even eschewing appearances on friendly shows. Instead, he’s blasted out self-defenses on his social media site Truth Social and through his Save America super PAC.

The more he speaks for himself, however, the more political headaches he creates for Republicans. On Monday, he bluntly proposed that he be crowned the “rightful winner” of a 2020 election fairly won by Biden, or that a determination be made that the ballot was “irreparably compromised.” He suggested a do-over of the election in the case of the latter.

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In the background is Trump himself, demanding fealty from Republicans, declaring the U.S. a ”third world” nation and ratcheting up his grievance-fueled attacks on the Justice Department and FBI, all while violent threats against his detractors are on the rise.

And the Republican lawmakers who took to TV to back up Trump this week are senior conference members and close allies. When Congress returns to Washington next month, the entire GOP is in for a bout of 2017 déjà vu with a Capitol press corps that’s bound to fire off Trump questions rather than the Biden-centric themes that the party would rather hit.

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