This feels like it needs a MAGA vs Republican distinction. There are plenty of Republicans who (privately) have issues with some things Trump is doing.
They aren't in Congress, they are working in the states, I would guess. The Republicans in Congress mostly volunteered for a spinectomy when Trump was elected again.
That's part of it: many felt the winds and simultaneously made the choice to "focus on family" and step back from politics during the 2nd Trump administration.
But the wheel turns, and there's going to be a lot of folks in the party with very sharp axes to grind during the lame duck period.
The meme is that Susan Collins is “always concerned”. But still votes along with the MAGAs. If they are silently going along, what difference does it make? They are still MAGA.
No one except the Freedom Caucus in the House are true MAGA to their core the rest are just opportunists. I’m not sure who are the true believers in the Senate.
Absolutely not. Almost every non-MAGA Republican voice that served in federal public office has been ousted, and it's not like they were good to begin with.
by and large the "anti-trump republican" has ceased to be a relevant political bloc. they have either vote for trump / pro trump candidates and are functionally indistinguishable from MAGA, vote for the most moderate democrat possible, or have given up politics entirely. I suspect you didn't mean this, but the largest group of self identified republicans who have an issue with trump are angry he isn't far right enough (ie groypers, klansmen, neonazis, and like).
I've had two such chats with Trump supporters, and one said in great detail that this statement is true. He acknowledged that Trump has done a number of ethically and legally problematic things, and that supporting Trump means enabling this, but feels that he has to accept that necessary evil in order to achieve his policy goals on various issues. (The other flatly denied that Trump has ever done anything wrong and refused to keep talking when I produced examples of the most pointlessly cruel stuff.)
Have you heard differently in your own casual chats on the topic?
Reducing illegal immigration seemed to be the primary one. Some stuff on civil rights too, but I'm not sure if that was a big concern for the guy I was talking to or an attempt to find common ground where he knew I'd be more sympathetic.
> It's always easy to spot a person who has enclosed themselves in a political or ideological bubble. They're typically first to apply a label to a large group of people and then assume all the people with that label are the exact same.
Your recent posting history here includes calling the entire European Union a "non-contributing toddler" to the world. Hmm.
