US Republicans: Short process with Trump critics

The US Republicans have officially reprimanded two Trump critics within the party – and at the same time appropriated Trump’s reinterpretation of the events of the storming of the Capitol. Trump’s ex-Vice Pence is more at a distance than ever.

Short process at the winter meeting of the Republican National Committee in Salt Lake City: “Do you still need to discuss it?” asks the chair of the meeting. “No?” And then the vote is taken, by acclamation: in just 30 seconds and with a large majority, the governing body of the Republican party decides to punish two of the last internal party critics of ex-US President Donald Trump. Only a handful of delegates voted against.

The formal reprimand for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger is the most severe punishment that a political party can impose in the United States – even if it is purely symbolic. But the reasoning above all made headlines: Cheney and Kinzinger are the only Republicans on the investigative committee into the storming of the Capitol. And so they are part of a “democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens who have participated in a legitimate political discourse,” says the resolution.

“This is not a legitimate political discourse”

The daughter of ex-Vice President Dick Cheney reacted on Twitter: She could not understand why the party voluntarily made itself hostage to a man who could not accept the result of the election. In any case, she will continue to fight for the constitution. Her colleague Kinzinger, who was also punished, no longer wants to run because of internal party pressure.

On January 6, angry Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington. They wanted to prevent the confirmation of the election victory of the Democrat Joe Biden. Five people died in the attack and several were injured.

Cheney is a red rag for Trump

The 55-year-old Cheney in particular has been a red rag for Trump and his supporters for months because she holds the ex-president directly responsible for the storming of the Capitol – and always contradicts all attempts by her party friends to put things into perspective, as she did last May: “I will do everything we can to ensure that the ex-president never goes near the White House again. We see how great a danger his words still pose.”

Last weekend, Trump declared at an election campaign event that if he were re-elected, he would treat the participants in the demonstrations fairly – and, if necessary, pardon them.

Pence distances himself from Trump

The party remains divided: Ex-Vice President Mike Pence makes almost more headlines. While his party colleagues in Salt Lake City are sanctioning Trump critics, Pence distanced himself more clearly than ever from his ex-boss in a speech in Orlando. Because Trump is still insisting that Pence could have changed the election result on January 6, 2021.

“President Trump is wrong. I didn’t have the right to change the outcome of the election,” Pence said. “The election belongs solely to the American people. And frankly, it’s totally un-American to say that one person alone can choose the president.”

And Pence, who is said to have his own ambitions for the 2024 presidential candidacy, sends a warning to his party afterwards: “If we lose faith in the constitution, then we will not only lose elections. We will lose our country.”