{"id":33382,"date":"2016-12-21T14:37:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T22:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33382"},"modified":"2016-12-21T14:38:49","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T22:38:49","slug":"republicans-in-congress-are-terrified-of-trump-and-his-horde-of-enforcers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33382","title":{"rendered":"Republicans In Congress Are TERRIFIED Of Trump And His ‘Horde Of Enforcers’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump ran roughshod over his GOP opponents in the 2016 Republican primaries. It was a scorched Earth style campaign that left his foes, not just beaten, but humiliated. He didn’t merely challenge their policy positions or leadership skills, he used language meant to shame them. Fellow Republicans were viciously maligned as “Lyin’ Ted’<\/em> and “Little Marco.”<\/em> Eventually Trump succeeded in capturing the nomination, but not without leaving bodies on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

\"Trump\/Bannon\"
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Those same tactics are now being deployed against the Republicans in Congress. Many of them are saying privately that they are fearful of taking positions against Trump. That poses a critical problem because their traditionally conservative views are often at odds with Trump’s twisted brand of populism. Trumpulism favors cordial relations with Russia and its strongman Vladimir Putin. It proposes to spend a trillion dollars on infrastructure improvements, mainly benefiting wealthy contractors. It is critical of the U.S. alliance with NATO. It would impose stiff tariffs on American companies with foreign factories. All of these positions are in direct opposition to decades of Republican doctrine.<\/p>\n

The problem now is that Republicans are literally afraid to speak their minds. They have been warned by Trump and his surrogates that any diversion from total obedience to his agenda would be viewed as betrayal. As reported by Politico<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s little wonder that Capitol Hill Republicans have papered over their not-insignificant policy differences with Trump, shying away from any statement about the president-elect that might possibly be construed as critical. They\u2019re terrified of arousing the ire of their tempestuous new leader \u2014 or being labeled a turncoat by his army of followers.” […]<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Since the election, numerous congressional Republicans have refused to publicly weigh in on any Trump proposal at odds with Republican orthodoxy, from his border wall to his massive infrastructure package. The most common reason, stated repeatedly but always privately: They’re afraid of being attacked by Breitbart or other big-name Trump supporters.”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The threat from Breitbart is a real concern. Especially since its chairman, Stephen Bannon, is currently on leave to serve as Trump’s strategic advisor in the White House. But it doesn’t stop there. As South Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Sanford said, “People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Texas Rep. Bill Flores can attest to Sanford’s worries. After he made some rather tame remarks at a conservative conference, the Trump enforcers snapped into action. Breitbart began with an article condemning Flores for plotting to “stifle Trump\u2019s campaign promises.”<\/em> Sean Hannity of Fox News picked up the story and added his own vitriolic objections. He implied that Flores was using code to tell Trump to “Go to hell.”<\/em> Subsequently, Flores was showered with complaints that included predictions of the end of his political career and even death threats. Never mind that he is one of the most conservative members of the House and a co-founder of its arch right-wing Freedom Caucus.<\/p>\n

The media component of Trump’s Crusaders is a key to their intimidation tactics. They have the power of Fox News as well as dozens of other right-wing media outlets. Strain all of that through Facebook and Twitter and you get a powerful amplification of their defamatory propaganda.<\/p>\n

\n

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
\nFox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.<\/a>
\nAvailable now at Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The rest of the GOP caucus is learning a lesson from this. They are choosing to keep their mouths shut rather than risk offending Trump or his defenders. The StormTrumpers stand at the ready to crucify any Republican they view as disloyal or insufficiently resolute. It’s a chilling state of affairs that impinges on the core principles of democracy. And in that regard, it should not be a surprise coming from the Trump camp. His authoritarian leanings have been apparent from the start of his campaign. And since it’s clear that Republicans can’t be relied upon to defend democracy, Democrats better be prepared to do it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump ran roughshod over his GOP opponents in the 2016 Republican primaries. It was a scorched Earth style campaign that left his foes, not just beaten, but humiliated. He didn’t merely challenge their policy positions or leadership skills, he used language meant to shame them. Fellow Republicans were viciously maligned as “Lyin’ Ted’ and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,1200],"tags":[982,554,33,586,561,301,129,895],"class_list":["post-33382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-politics","tag-breitbart","tag-donald-trump","tag-fox-news","tag-mark-sanford","tag-politico","tag-republicans","tag-sean-hannity","tag-steve-bannon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-bannon.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-8Gq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57961,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=57961","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":0},"title":"Trump Threatens ‘Weak’ Republicans in Congress: ‘We Will Put Them All In Jail Where They Belong’","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/7\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The furious hostility and seething animus of Donald Trump are perhaps the most quintessential characteristics of his perverse personality. The only times that he isn't lashing out malevolently at his perceived enemies is when he is lavishing wholly undue praise upon himself. Click here to Tweet this article The targets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Republican, GOP","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-titanic-gop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-titanic-gop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-titanic-gop.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56223,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=56223","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":1},"title":"Americans are Unsatisfied with Politics in General, But Specifically Despise Trump and the GOP","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/31\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"One thing that Donald Trump and the Republican Party can boast about having accomplished is poisoning the political atmosphere through divisive rhetoric, disinformation, and hate speech. Click here to Tweet this article Throughout the Era of Trump, he has never tried to unite the nation or to expand his reach\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump, Joe Biden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-biden-fear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-biden-fear.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-biden-fear.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58274,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=58274","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":2},"title":"Fox News Floats Inane Theory that Every Democrat Would Vote for Trump for House Speaker","author":"Mark NC","date":"10\/9\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In the continuing soap opera that is the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, the aftermath of the ouster of Squeaker McCarthy has ignited a firestorm of intramural fury within the GOP. They have commenced their circular firing squads and set a near certain course for the minority in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump TV Set","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-tv-set.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-tv-set.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-tv-set.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69082,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=69082","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":3},"title":"IN A PANIC Trump Threatens GOP to Pass His Anti-Voting Act, Because His ‘Reasons’ Are Pure BS","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/17\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"For several weeks Donald Trump has been fixated on passing what he calls the \"Save America Act.\" He has elevated it to a position of top priority, declaring that it must be passed \"at the expense of everything else.\" He even declared that he will sign no other legislation until\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump Circling the Drain","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-drain.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-drain.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-drain.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48013,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=48013","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":4},"title":"Donald Trump Jr: ‘The Bull$h!t Never Ends’ – Even When He’s Right, He’s Wrong","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/24\/2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It's only halfway through Christmas week and Donald Trump has already vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), threatened to do the same to the Consolidated Appropriations Act (which contains COVID relief, as well as all twelve federal spending bills), and then jetted off to Mar-a-Lago on the taxpayer's dime\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"Donald Trump Jr","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-jr-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-jr-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-jr-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50828,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=50828","url_meta":{"origin":33382,"position":5},"title":"HUH? 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