'Character counts': Republican shreds 'shameful' GOP for electing 'criminal' Trump
Veteran Republican political consultant, author, and Lincoln Project senior advisor Stuart Stephens appeared on Tuesday night's edition of MSNBC's Alex Wagner Tonight and explained to the namesake host and her audience why the GOP deserves to bear the scars of former President Donald Trump's legal predicaments.
Wagner had just finished reviewing an NBC News poll which showed that a third of Republican primary voters are choosing loyal to Trump over the party. She wondered if the survey indicated that the GOP is "making a mistake when they assume that defending Trump is their only option?"
Stephens broke down why there is no aberration.
"You know, I think that poll is a little misleading because the Republican party has become Donald Trump. So it, it, it's not really much of a choice. There's no anti-Trump movement of any size in the Republican party. What happens if you oppose Trump? You're, you're Liz Cheney. They throw a Cheney out of the party. So it's an easy thing to say, 'well, I don't support Donald Trump. You know, I support the party more than Donald Trump,' when you're really saying the same thing," Stevens said.
"Look, I, this is where the Republican Party has ended up. It began when they accepted Donald Trump. When Donald Trump went out and called for a Muslim ban in December of 2015, everyone knew in the party that if the party stood for anything, it was the Constitution. This was a religious test. They knew this, but they didn't stand up to Trump," he continued.
"And you know, there was this thing that the Republican Party used to say when I worked in it, that character counts, and that was right," Stevens added. "And this is now all unfolding and it's just beginning. After the majority of the Republican party does not believe that Joe Biden is a legally elected president. So play that out. What does it mean? It means they live in an occupied country. So that only not only gives them a reason to do whatever it takes. To some, it gives them an obligation. And I, I think this is, it's just beginning. I think the Republican Party is shameful and not standing up for the rule of law, which is what this is. The reason there's a former president being indicted is because the Republican party nominated and elected a criminal. No more complicated than that."
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