In a sane world, Donald J. Trump, defeated for re-election, twice impeached and caught up in multiple investigations, would slink into retirement from politics. That the former president is seeking re-election — and “retribution” — is a reflection not only of his narcissism and the deluded devotion of his followers but also of the failure of prominent Republicans to ostracize him.
Exhibit A is the seesawing of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. During the post-Jan. 6 debate over Trump’s impeachment — which he opposed — McCarthy rightly said Trump “bears responsibility” for the attack on Congress as it set about certifying Joe Biden’s victory. McCarthy also described the attack as “undemocratic, unAmerican, and criminal.” Earlier, in a conversation with colleagues, he said he would recommend that Trump resign, though he accused the New York Times of “false and wrong” reporting when it disclosed that fact. (The reporters later released a recording of the conversation.)
But despite McCarthy’s criticism of Trump, the Bakersfield Republican soon was making a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, where, in what Trump’s political action committee described as a “cordial” conversation, he and Trump discussed the campaign to regain control of the House. More recently, McCarthy provided Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson with 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 security video that Carlson used to present the Jan. 6 insurrection as a mostly peaceful event. The overwhelming majority of participants, Carlson said, “were not insurrectionists. They were sightseers.”
Predictably, Trump thanked Carlson and McCarthy, and called for the release of those who have been convicted or have pleaded guilty to charges from the attack. (In the past, he has suggested that if re-elected he might pardon some Jan. 6 defendants.) Whatever Carlson thinks of Trump in private, his whitewashing of that day’s events plays into Trump’s attempt to rewrite a traumatic moment in American history to his political advantage.
To their credit, some Republicans in Congress treated Carlson’s presentation with the scorn it deserved. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell associated himself with a statement by Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger complaining that Carlson’s presentation “conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video.”