Former President Donald Trump remains publicly obsessed with the past to the point that he recently sent Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) a letter asking the top elections official to explore potentially decertifying the presidential election outcome in his state, where Biden won — but Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is not on board with such nonsense. Cassidy, who is one of the seven Republican Senators who voted to convict Trump of incitement of insurrection at the conclusion of his impeachment trial earlier this year, criticized the push by certain Republicans to “re-litigate 2020” on NBC’s Meet the Press this weekend.
As Cassidy put it, discussing the recent announcement by Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) that he decided to retire:
‘I think you have a broader question there. The broader question, frankly, is: do Republicans continue to re-litigate 2020, or do we look forward with a positive agenda? If we re-litigate 2020 over and over again, it won’t change the result in 2020, but we’re sure to lose in 2024. On the other hand, if we have a positive agenda which addresses the fact that the Biden administration is in disarray… then the country’ll win, and we’ll win… If all you do is talk about the past, you’re yesterday’s news.’
Watch Cassidy’s partly on-point remarks below:
Obviously, the Biden administration isn’t “in disarray,” and Cassidy’s comments are, of course, pretty basic — but even these foundational levels of understanding regarding the realities of American policies and the needs of the American people often seem totally missing among Republicans. Instead, Republicans like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) alongside similarly minded and prominent members of the House opt to push conspiratorial nonsense, serving the ego of Donald Trump while their own constituents (alongside other Americans) suffer. More broadly, even Republicans who don’t spend their own time pushing extremism seem remarkably open to the idea of another Trump presidential run, even though he is continuing to promote the baseless and frankly utterly bonkers idea that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
Full Cassidy Interview: If Republicans "relitigate the past, we lose"
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) talks to Chuck Todd about former President Trump's influence over the Republican party, during an exclusive interview with Meet the Press.https://t.co/3RCYPkrim8 pic.twitter.com/AY5ETdeZlo
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 19, 2021
Meanwhile, Democrats are continuing their work to meet the needs of the American people. In the near future, these efforts seem slated to focus on two bills, including a bipartisan infrastructure deal and a spending bill meant to support social services and the like.
