Fake News Lionizes GOP Quitters as Heroes for Abandoning Congress as Trump’s Swamp Exodus Continues
Shane Trejo
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A mass exodus from the Republican Party is underway, with many establishment-favorite legislators quitting the ranks of Congress in what they are framing as a protest against their party’s populist figurehead.
While most Republicans see this as evidence that President Donald Trump is living up to his mandate of draining the swamp, the fake news smear merchants at the Washington Post frame this as proof that Trump is losing control over the GOP.
The Bezos-run lobbying rag published an article this weekend gushing over the quitters who have abandoned ship:
Since Trump’s inauguration, a Washington Post analysis shows, nearly 40 percent of the 241 Republicans who were in office in January 2017 are gone or leaving because of election losses, retirements including former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), and some, such as Mitchell, who are simply quitting in disgust.
The vast turnover is a reminder of just how much Trump has remade the GOP — and of the purge of those who dare to oppose him. Former congressman Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) lost his June 2018 primary after challenging Trump; he’s now a Republican presidential candidate. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.), the only Republican to accuse Trump of impeachable acts, quit the GOP in July citing the “partisan death spiral.” His political future is uncertain…
Most of the departing Republicans publicly cite family as the reason for leaving. But behind the scenes, Republicans say the trend highlights a greater pessimism about the direction of the party under Trump — and their ability to win back the House next year.
The president has doubled down on an all-base strategy for his reelection campaign, making some Republicans ask whether Trump has put his own political future ahead of the long-term viability of the party of Abraham Lincoln.
While the fake news wants to put these quitters on a pedestal, these former lawmakers are not likely to bow out with grace and dignity. There is a great chance they will become lobbyists based on their connections made in the Washington D.C. swamp. There are several examples of anti-Trump lawmakers who bowed out during the previous session already doing as much.
Former Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) retired last year and immediately became lobbyists for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a top international legal firm. Former Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) announced the formation of her own lobbying firm before she even left Congress in 2019.
Still, departing lawmakers have the nerve to paint themselves as heroes for cutting and running from public service. They lament the fact that the Republican Party is not pandering enough to diversity, and refusing to play nice with Democrats who are sending the country down the road to socialism and despair.
“The electorate is changing . . . and if you’re not staying up to date, and if you’re not talking to people who are going to be future voters, then you’re going to have a problem at the ballot box,” former CIA officer and departing Congressman Will Hurd (R-TX) recently said in an interview. “It’s women in the suburbs, minorities and young people — those are going to be the key groups and key voters in 2020.”
“Fewer than 12,500 people have ever done this. Congress has the opportunity to do incredible things for this country. I worked hard to be here. I love what it stands for. But I can’t afflict that trade-off, that sacrifice on [my son], when in fact all we’re sacrificing is just time because . . . we’re not solving the nation’s problems here,” departing Rep. Paul Mitchell (R-MI) said.
It will only be a matter of time before this election cycle’s quitter class ends up in lobbying positions as well. The Republican Party will be stronger without them, as they can be replaced by more nationalist, pro-Trump lawmakers.
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