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Robert Reich: Why Trump's Revenge Tour Will Come Back to Bite Him in the Butt
Link: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-trumps-revenge-tour-will-come
Trump’s revenge tour continues.
Republican congressman and Trump critic Thomas Massie lost Tuesday to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, in the most expensive House primary in U.S. history (total cost was more than $32 million from combined campaign and super PAC spending).
Massie lost by a 10-point margin after being outspent 2-to-1 for most of the race. Pro-Israel groups (AIPAC, RJC) accounted for just over 30 percent of outside spending in the race, while Trump’s own Super PAC accounted for another 30 percent.
This is just Trump’s latest victory on what has been dubbed his “revenge tour.” Other Trump victories include:
The retirement of North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who announced last summer he would not run for reelection after voting against Trump’s Big Ugly Bill.
The primary defeat of all but one of the Indiana Republicans who stood up to Trump by opposing Trump’s demand for redistricting. The primary defeat of Louisiana’s Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to impeach Trump for January 6th.
The potential loss of Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn to Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton in next Tuesday’s runoff. (Trump says he decided to back Paxton because Cornyn was “very late in backing me” in 2024, despite Cornyn’s record of voting in for everything Trump has wanted.)
Incumbent Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who opposed Trump’s plot to “find 11,780 votes” in Georgia in 2020, and declined to seek reelection to another term as Secretary of State in favor of running for governor, was easily trounced in the Republican primary for governor. (The GOP Secretary of State primary in Georgia is headed to a June 16th runoff, with both candidates having promoted voter fraud conspiracies.)
These purges cement Trump’s stranglehold over the GOP. They send a clear signal to all Republicans who seek office or who are planning to run for reelection that they must be a rubber stamp for Trump to gain or remain in power. They have thereby converted the official Republican Party from a political party into an extension of Trump’s regime — further eroding American democracy.
... snip ...
But the purges in Congress could also make Trump a premature lame duck over the next six months if Tillis, Cassidy, Massie, and Cornyn break with him for the remainder of their terms.
- more at link -
Republican congressman and Trump critic Thomas Massie lost Tuesday to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein, in the most expensive House primary in U.S. history (total cost was more than $32 million from combined campaign and super PAC spending).
Massie lost by a 10-point margin after being outspent 2-to-1 for most of the race. Pro-Israel groups (AIPAC, RJC) accounted for just over 30 percent of outside spending in the race, while Trump’s own Super PAC accounted for another 30 percent.
This is just Trump’s latest victory on what has been dubbed his “revenge tour.” Other Trump victories include:
The retirement of North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who announced last summer he would not run for reelection after voting against Trump’s Big Ugly Bill.
The primary defeat of all but one of the Indiana Republicans who stood up to Trump by opposing Trump’s demand for redistricting. The primary defeat of Louisiana’s Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to impeach Trump for January 6th.
The potential loss of Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn to Trump-endorsed Ken Paxton in next Tuesday’s runoff. (Trump says he decided to back Paxton because Cornyn was “very late in backing me” in 2024, despite Cornyn’s record of voting in for everything Trump has wanted.)
Incumbent Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who opposed Trump’s plot to “find 11,780 votes” in Georgia in 2020, and declined to seek reelection to another term as Secretary of State in favor of running for governor, was easily trounced in the Republican primary for governor. (The GOP Secretary of State primary in Georgia is headed to a June 16th runoff, with both candidates having promoted voter fraud conspiracies.)
These purges cement Trump’s stranglehold over the GOP. They send a clear signal to all Republicans who seek office or who are planning to run for reelection that they must be a rubber stamp for Trump to gain or remain in power. They have thereby converted the official Republican Party from a political party into an extension of Trump’s regime — further eroding American democracy.
... snip ...
But the purges in Congress could also make Trump a premature lame duck over the next six months if Tillis, Cassidy, Massie, and Cornyn break with him for the remainder of their terms.
Robert Reich makes a good argument that the GOP's primary losers have nothing to fear now, they can go ahead and vote down everything Chump wants, and vote up everything he doesn't want - for the next 7 months. Please read the rest on Robert Reich's substack.
