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The news on Saturday of Donald Trump’s acquittal over his incitement of the Capitol riots should not have surprised anybody. Despite Trump’s guilt, the votes in the Senate for impeachment were never there.
Yet as I watched cable news this weekend, many liberal pundits seemed baffled at the cowardice of Mitch McConnell and his band of 43 GOP senators who acquitted the President. Others tried to lavish praise on the 7 Republicans who voted to convict, leaving out the unsettling reality that 86% of Senate Republicans and 93% of House Republicans voted to stand with Trump.
The explanation for the outcome is so simple yet so elusive to many: The Republican base still loves Trump. Polls conducted after the Capitol riots indicate that between 80% and 90% of registered Republicans have a “positive view” of Trump. The numbers actually track with how the GOP Congress voted on impeachment.
Moreover, a majority of Republican voters “strongly” approve of Trump. Enthusiastic voters are an animating force in politics; these are the people who will show up to the polls in primaries at the state and district levels if Trump encourages them to do so. GOP candidates endorsed by Trump won 98% of their primaries in 2020. Recall that Trump was able to effectively purge the party of any figures he deemed disloyal to him (think Jeff…
