For those hoping to see Donald Trump show some modicum of respect for democracy and American political norms, it wasn’t a great weekend. On Saturday night, the former president raised the prospect of pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, while lashing out at law enforcement officials who may hold him accountable. A day later, the Republican said in writing that he wanted his former vice president to “overturn the election.”
On Sunday night, Rep. Adam Kinzinger published a notable tweet. The Illinois Republican, one of the two GOP members on the Jan. 6 committee, wrote, “It is time for every Republican leader to pick a side…. Trump or the Constitution, there is no middle on defending our nation anymore.”
The next day, as Republican senators returned to Capitol Hill, HuffPost found a lot of silence and shrugged shoulders.
[Many] Republicans declined to comment when pressed about the issue on Monday, including Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.). Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, also refused to weigh in, calling the possibility of pardons for Jan. 6 rioters mere “speculation.”
I’m not sure “speculation” is the appropriate word in this context. The former president spoke at a political rally and said he’s prepared to give Jan. 6 rioters pardons. Either the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee is comfortable with such an idea or he’s not. There’s no need to “speculate.”
Regardless, those looking for a law-and-order-inspired GOP backlash were left wanting. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said if the former president were to return to the White House, Trump would have “every right in the world” to pardon those who attacked the Capitol.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley — one of only eight senators to balk at certifying the 2020 election results — told HuffPost, “If [Trump] wants to run in 2024 and make that part of his campaign platform, that’s up to him. My own view is that for folks who committed crimes ― actual crimes ― they ought to be prosecuted … whether it was here or Portland or St. Louis.”
The Missouri senator, of course, is one of the Republicans eager to draw a parallel between social justice protests in the summer of 2020 and the insurrectionist assault on the U.S. Capitol in 2021.
In fairness, we’ve seen some GOP exceptions over the last couple of days. For example, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a sycophantic Trump ally, was willing to describe the former president’s rhetoric as “inappropriate.” Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy told Igor Bobic, “If you do the crime, you do the time. You shouldn’t be pardoned for that.”
But they were exceptions to the rule. Most leading GOP voices took a pass on criticizing the failed former president who continues to lead their party. To hear Kinzinger tell it, the past few days should represent some kind of inflection point. Trump is prepared to pardon insurrectionist rioters. He’s making veiled threats about future mobs. He’s admitting he wanted his loyalists to overturn his defeat. He’s even confronting reports that he was directly involved in plots to seize voting machines. “It is time for every Republican leader to pick a side,” Kinzinger wrote. “Trump or the Constitution, there is no middle on defending our nation anymore.” By all appearances, most of the congressman’s GOP brethren don’t seem to care.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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