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Greg Sargent Profile picture
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5 Jan, 5 tweets, 3 min read
This keeps getting lost in euphemism. But Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are waging full-scale war *on their own state's voters.* If they win, this will be validated as just another tool of political mobilization. That's awful to contemplate. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Stop saying Republicans are "cowards."

Stop saying they are humoring Trump.

Stop saying Trump voters have trapped them in a difficult situation.

The reality is that Republicans are manipulating their voters in a show of extraordinary contempt for them:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
At Trump's rally, Loeffler pledged to object to Biden's electors. Then she pivoted to calling for voters to show up today.

That's a key tell. Republicans know they can't win unless their voters are deluded into believing Trump's chances are still alive:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
One big thing at stake in the Georgia runoffs is whether there will be a political cost to treating voters and our political system with such staggering levels of malevolent contempt:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
This got overlooked, but it's appalling.

After Trump tried to blackmail Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, David Perdue attacked *Raffensperger.*

For Perdue, the real crime is exposing Trump's effort to defraud his own state's voters.

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

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Greg Sargent Profile picture
6 Jan
The spin from McConnell and his allies is Trump's focus on stealing the election helped cost them the Georgia runoffs. It's nonsense. Republicans did all they could to exploit everything he unleashed among his voters. Don't let them memory-hole any of it:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
The spin from McConnell and his allies is that Trump's conspiracy theories and grievances about the election cost them in the suburbs.

But McConnell and Republicans spent weeks feeding GOP base voter delusions on this front, for purely cynical purposes:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/… ImageImage
McConnell allies insist they piously wanted the runoffs to be all about the economy, and that Trump's pathologies alienated the suburbs.

But McConnell-allied groups saturated the airwaves with the ugliest of Trumpist sewage, all to juice the Trump base:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/… ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
4 Jan
Here's a very worrisome sign:

Alexander Keyssar, who is perhaps the leading historian of US democracy, is deeply alarmed by what he's seeing.

He told me that the last month of events raise "deeply disturbing" implications for our democratic future. 1/

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Trump's appalling effort to blackmail the Georgia Sec of State into rigging the outcome for him sheds new light on what we're going to see on Jan 6th.

Importantly, dozens of Republicans will still object to Biden's electors -- even after this. 2/

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
You'd think after Trump's extraordinary display of lawlessness, some Republicans objecting to Biden electors might refrain.

You'd think they might want to avoid this taint or send a clear sign that this was intolerable.

They will proceed anyway. 3/

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…
Read 10 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
1 Jan
Good thread. @paulkrugman suggests a key motivator of the failure to act on coronavirus was active malevolence, not mere "executive underreach."

I agree. And I'd like to add an additional point about this. 1/
@paulkrugman In this case, the inaction was in part rooted in a specific iteration of malevolence, the belief (which turned out to be wrong) that only parts of the country that opposed Trump would seriously suffer and die. Trump mused openly about protecting Florida from NY, NJ and CT. 2/
@paulkrugman The idea that virtuous Real America needed to be protected from depraved, diseased Blue America, has long been a hallmark of Trumpism. He attacked urban districts as rodent infested. He mused to Florida's governor that he'd wall off the virus. 3/

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 4 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
30 Dec 20
No one should ever listen to this fraud again when he claims to speak for the "great American middle." He won't acknowledge the preference of a majority of American voters! Those who play footsie with his "conservative populism" should admit to its genuine authoritarian side.
That Hawley is joining Trump's effort to overturn millions of votes is a bad sign. It suggests the 2024 hopefuls who see themselves as Trumpism's heirs will continue to stress the mythology that the election was stolen from him. I gamed that out here:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Cheerleaders for people like Hawley insist the 2020 results show that "conservative populism" has potential for genuine majoritarian appeal. They must be deeply disappointed that one of its leading champions wants to overturn millions of votes, right?

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
23 Dec 20
Trump's call for $2000 checks, which top Dems quickly endorsed, provides a powerful weapon against Perdue/Loeffler. It wrecks McConnell's spin about the deal, and shows that the real obstacle to generous assistance is congressional Republicans. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Trump just demolished the entire story McConnell is telling to save his majority.

Remember, when the WH and Dems were negotiating over a deal that included big stimulus checks (which Trump wanted!) McConnell killed it.

Trump just revived this schism:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
It will be fun when Perdue/Loeffler are asked about Trump's call for $2000.

Do they side with Trump or McConnell?

And will their stance be that they support Trump's effort to overturn the election but not his call for stimulus?

(with @chrislhayes)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets
Greg Sargent Profile picture
21 Dec 20
You can already see how Republicans will expunge the stain of Trump. They will reduce his epic failings to ones of tone and personal conduct, while insulating conservative ideology from its role in the biggest governing failure of modern times. My latest:
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
The big NYT piece on Republicans allegedly wanting to move on from Trump actually gives away their game.

Cornyn claims we won't have to talk about his "Tweets" anymore. Lindsey Graham piously says the GOP's problem is one of "tone."

Don't be fooled:

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Stop saying Trump and his supporters "actually believe" the election was stolen from him. They support overturning *legitimate* election results. They're angry because democracy *worked,* not because it failed.

(w/@AdamSerwer, @RosieGray & @RadioFreeTom)

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
Read 5 tweets

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