President Trump is too self absorbed and bitter to do much of anything as his time in office runs out…
And….
Pro-Trump people tried to get rid of him ….permanently last week…
The Vice President and his wife will attend the swearing in of the incoming President and Vice President…Trump and his wife will not….
Vice President Mike Pence telephoned Vice President-elect Kamala Harris Thursday to congratulate her and offer his belated assistance — filling a leadership role all but abdicated by President Trump, who is planning to fly out of the capital shortly before Joseph R. Biden Jr. is sworn in next week.
The Pence-Harris conversation, relayed by two officials briefed on the call, was described as gracious and pleasant. The discussion is the first time Mr. Pence and Ms. Harris have spoken since they debated each other last fall.
It also represents the only one-on-one interaction between the dueling 2020 presidential tickets: Mr. Trump has refused to call President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and has not even fully conceded defeat.
Mr. Pence and his wife, Karen, may have Ms. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, over to the vice-presidential residence before the inauguration on Wednesday, according to one official. But those plans remain uncertain, in part because of the security threats posed to the nation’s capital have made scheduling fluid….
…
The Pences will attend the inauguration, in the tradition of past second families, and Mr. Biden has said that Mr. Pence’s presence there will be an important symbol of the peaceful transfer of power.
image…marieclare.com
Deep in the GOP Ranks, MAGA Mind-Set Prevails
New York Times: “As Mr. Trump prepares to exit the White House and face a second impeachment trial in the Senate, his ideas continue to exert a gravitational pull in Republican circles across the country. The falsehoods, white nationalism and baseless conspiracy theories he peddled for four years have become ingrained at the grass-roots level of the party, embraced by activists, local leaders and elected officials even as a handful of Republicans in Congress break with the president in the final hour.”
“Interviews with more than 40 Republican state and local leaders conducted after the siege at the Capitol show that a vocal wing of the party maintains an almost-religious devotion to the president, and that these supporters don’t hold him responsible for the mob violence last week. The opposition to him emerging among some Republicans has only bolstered their support of him.”
“And while some Republican leaders and strategists are eager to dismiss these loyalists as a fringe element of their party, many of them hold influential roles at the state and local level.”
(this while Pence and Cruz will show up at the Biden/Harris swearing in)
I find nothing surprising about this and is indicative of what some of us have been saying for awhile now.
The Republican Party has fundamentally changed over the past four years.
People who were once on the fringes are now in positions of power,particularly at the grassroots level as noted above.
Come Jan.20, Trump the person may exit the White House but Trumpism will continue to exercise a major influence upon the Republican Party.
It is said here that there is now a “Civil War” brewing in the Republican Party.Maybe, but presently?The Trumpism faction definitely holds the upper hand.
The question is, without Trump in the White House is this change that has occurred just an aberration that will be quickly extinguished ,with Trump no longer the center of attention(something like this happened to the Right Wing in the Republican Party in the mid sixties) or is Trumpism itself so established that even without the personage himself ,it remains a vibrant force.
We should get some indication over the next several months.
Great get Jack….
My view has been Trump will have trouble with the post White House turbulence and that will cost him political currency…
Oh to have been a fly on his head during that conversation.
quick hits of things Dems did that were right, but not politically beneficial
Dems force Franken to resign (strict but consistent standard for relatively minor offense)
IL Dems replace Madigan as Speaker (lots of these Reps received $ from Madigan)
Dems provide substantial relief funds to TX and Ok even though GOP stiffed NJ after Sandy.
Dems impeach Trump During last week – if convicted Trump can’t run again
Dems collaborate with GOP instead of shutting down government with Trump despite what GOP did during Obama term
Franken resigning while Hawley sits in the Senate is criminal.
Democrats ALWAYS try to be the Good Guys….
Leaving Biden waiting next week would surely go your list Z….
Vice President Mike Pence
@VP
US government account
Thank you for the privilege of serving as your Vice President these past four years, it has been the greatest honor of my life. On behalf of our Wonderful Second Lady, Karen Pence, and our entire Family, Thank You and God Bless America. Flag of United States