It shouldn’t be this difficult to distance oneself from a prospective party nominee for president who has been found liable by a jury for sexual battery and defamation. Jurors essentially agreed with the crux of civil claims brought by a longtime writer who says he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s. Yet, here Republicans are.
Is there anything Donald Trump could do that would make Republican leaders say something along the lines of, “You know what, nevermind on that idea”? His incessant and self-serving lies about the integrity of the 2020 election that inspired a violent and openly murderous attack on the Capitol perpetrated by figures who in some cases haven’t even renounced their actions, at least with any reasonable consistency, clearly weren’t enough. His frenzied push to find some kind of secret rhetorical lever in the judiciary or legislative politics that would mean Joe Biden never took office despite investigation after investigation showing the integrity of the 2020 presidential race’s outcome didn’t do it.
His open antagonism of people like women who have accused him of sexual misconduct, his vitriolic and simply delusional rhetoric about immigrants that mirrored what a mass shooter who attacked a Texas Wal-Mart during his presidency parroted — when will it matter to figures in the GOP?
“The former President is officially liable for sexual assault,” Adam Kinzinger remarked on Twitter earlier this week. “Every evangelical leader that has supported him should now [publicly] disavow him. This isn’t even a judgment call.” And yet, where’s the outrage? Kinzinger was one of the few nationally visible elected Republicans who spoke against Trump’s delusions around the 2020 election. Liz Cheney was another — and Trump, with at least tacit support from other Republicans, helped drive her out of office with support for a primary challenger who has now taken her House seat.
The former President is officially liable for sexual assault. Every evangelical leader that has supported him should now publically disavow him. This isn’t even a judgment call.
— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) May 9, 2023
