Thread by @RachelBitecofer

1. Yes, Trump will claim to intend to target GOP senators up for reelection in '22 (like he did to Thune with Kristi Noem) if they don't join in @HawleyMO's sedition on Jan. 6, but the fact is, it's not clear whether Trump will be successful in ANY of those efforts & voting yes

https://twitter.com/bresreports/status/1345089377752539139

2. to hedge off these threats will also create fissures & fractures for these incumbents among other elements of their party that could complicate their renominations. Indeed, what worries me the most about the potential for the country to slip into @anneapplebaum territory is

3. that what should be robust and intense push back from the party establishment against actually ending democracy- bc that's what Trump's request would do, if it was granted, is fairly muted. What we SHOULD be seeing from the mainstream of the party is threats to strip committee

4. assignments, chairs, privileges, even reelection funds, if anyone gets involved in this bullshit- in the House & the Senate, and the fact that you don't see it is more than a story of McConnell & McCarthy being afraid of Trump & his base. Its a story of receptivity, of the

5. level of receptivity the congressional and party leadership is dealing with both within the rank and file membership of the party and within its donor class, and THAT, my friends, is why you find me so concerned. That, and my decision to finally pull @anneapplebaum's book

6. Twilight of Democracy off the To Read pile.

We REALLY want to do what we can to encourage & grow resistance within the Rep Party itself to ripping up the Constitution. Symbolic or not, the things that they are doing MATTER and we are in a place, institutionally speaking,

7. similar to the lead up over the Civil War, where refusal to accept the results of the 1860 presidential election helped stumble the country into armed conflict. I think its a big mistake for McConnell to play with fire like this, he ought to be marginalizing Trump & the

8. election denialism, not embolding it further as we head into the final stretch and the actual transfer of power process. Trump has dark goals for his bullshit rally on the 6th too, his vision is for an angry rally, with people demanding their "rightful king" be reinstated into

9. power. The issue with Trump is that whether its intentional or not is doesn't matter, he won't conduct himself in a manner that reduces the threat of violence. Just the opposite- everything he says & does will make violence more likely. It's going to be an untenable situation.