Republicans saw a glimmer of hope in their bid to win more hearts-and-minds back to the GOP with the jobs market heading in reverse under 78-year-old President Joe Biden. Biden gave his quasi State of the Union Speech April 28 boasting about the some 1.3 million jobs added to the economy. Long on promises and short on facts, Biden took credit for the job creation, which, in reality, amounted to only a small fraction of the jobs lost, some 3.5 million, during the pandemic. Today’s report of 3.5 million new unemployment claims and only 266,000 jobs added for April, shows that Biden’s vast plans for a Green economy could crashi early. With or without Trump leading the Party, a poor economic recovery from Biden’s Mach 11 $1.9 trillion economic stimulus plan could spell the end of the honeymoon. Biden looks for another $2 trillion for infrastructure spending
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), 65, urged his Republicans colleagues to let former President Donald Trump lead the Party back to greatness, now that they’re seeing cracks in Democrats’ economic plans. “I would just say to my Republican colleagues: ‘Can we move forward without President Trump?’’ The answer is no,” Graham said, weighing in on the expected vote next week to oust 54-year-old Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) from her leadership position as chair of the House Republican Conference. Cheney denounced Trump, calling his claims of voter fraud, like Democrats, “the big lie.” Graham said voters are attracted to the “Trump Republican Party,” because of economic populism and “America First” foreign policy agenda. Biden’s done everything to reverse the “America First” foreign policy, joining the U.N. and EU in what’s created a slow motion train wreck for American foreign policy.
Cheney irked Republicans jointing Democrats to impeach the 45th president for “incitement of insurrection.” While Trump was acquitted in the Senate Feb. 13, Cheney agreed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and nine Democrat impeachment managers blaming Trump for inciting the Jan. 5 Capitol riot and mob scene. Cheney agreed that Trump’s Jan. 5 speech in the Ellipse incited an angry mob to storm the Capitol and vandalize government property. Cheney ignored FBI reports that the rabble rousers planned the riot for months, nothing to do with Trump inciting anything. “I’ve always liked Liz Cheney, but s she’s made a determination that the Republican Party can’t grow with President Trump. I’ve determined that we can’t grow without him,” Graham told Fox New Sean Hannity. Graham can’t see Cheney’s plan leading to anything but more losses.
Cheney believes that the GOP must get rid of Trump to proceed into the future with the 20212 Midterm elections. “If you don’t get that as a Republican, you’re making the biggest mistake in the history of the Republican Party,” Graham said, about Cheney refusing to accept Trump as the Party’s leader. “The reason our party is growing with minorities and with working men and women is because President Trump appears to be on the side of people working really hard, appears to be on the side of opportunity not dependency, because he is,” Graham said. Graham has given the green light to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to oust Cheney by vote at the earliest possible time. Graham views Cheney no differently that Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) who also voted to impeach Trump on two different occasions. Romney’s isolated himself in GOP senate circles.
Vying for Cheney’s position, 36-year-old Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y) has the backing of Trump and 55-year-old House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.). Cheney no longer has the backing of McCarthy, who was heard on an open mike May 4 saying he “lost confidence” in Cheney. “I’ve had with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence,” McCarthy said in an open mike. Cheney has refused to resign her position, prompting McCarthy to call for a vote to remove her from her position. Graham thinks Republicans need to end the infighting that ‘s been sweeping the Party since Jan. 5, when Democrats and some Republicans denounced Trump for causing the Jan. 5 riot. Republicans didn’t know at the time that Proud Boys, Boogaloo and other militant right wing groups planned the violence for months, having nothing to do with Trump speech. Yet Cheney joined Democrats to blame Trump.
Cheney has not plan for how she plans to galvanize the Republican Party heading into the 2022 Miderms. She seems to echo her Democrat colleagues bashing Trump for everything but the kitchen sink. Graham wants to see the internecine Party warfare to stop, requiring Cheney to step down. “while embracing or ignoring Trump’s statements might seem attractive to some for fundraising and political purposes, that approach will do profound long-term damage to our party and our country” Cheney wrote in the Trump-hating Washington Post. Cheney holds sincere beliefs the same ones shared by former President George W. Bush, Romney and other never-Trumpers, that spent million during the 2020 campaign to defeat Trump. Graham sees that kind of internal warfare as what’s detrimental to the Republican Party, not backing Trump’s economic populism and America First foreign policy.
