As of: 07/22/2022 9:42 p.m
All with ambitions on the right wing of US Republicans are making appearances in Florida this weekend, including ex-President Trump. The primaries show that his influence in the party is unbroken.
It’s a conference of conservative youth, and everyone from the right wing of the Republicans comes to Tampa, Florida: Ex-President Donald Trump as well as his possible rival for the presidential candidacy, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz and others.
It is this wing of the party that has the upper hand. Internal party primaries are currently running across the country – for the congressional elections in the fall, but also for governorships and other offices at the state level. And in the Republican primary, many are looking particularly closely this time.
Because in a number of primary races, candidates supported by Trump compete against those who keep their distance from him. The vote is therefore also a mood test: How firmly are the Republicans still in Trump’s hands?
Anyone who enlightens is considered a traitor
In Wyoming, Liz Cheney has represented the state in the House of Representatives for almost six years. But if you ask around in the state these days, it quickly becomes clear: Cheney is considered by most to be a traitor because she voted for Trump’s impeachment process and because she led his involvement in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 in Washington Position in the committee of inquiry worked on.
And, of course, in Wyoming, too, Trump fired an opponent candidate with his “endorsement,” his recommendation: Harriet Hageman. And she’s well on her way to winning the party’s internal primary in mid-August.
The Republican Party is being tested before the US congressional elections
Kerstin Klein, ARD Washington, daily topics 10:45 p.m., July 10, 2022
Believe the lie of the stolen election
As in Wyoming, things are going on in many places in the USA: Gunner Ramer from the Republican Accountability Project in Washington is observing the primaries. He’s also a Republican, but part of an organization that wants to save the party from Trump. What Gunner sees in the primary races so far depresses him:
All over the country, at all political levels, Trump-like candidates are running. And the problem is: you win. If the majority of Republican candidates share the lie about the stolen election, it shows that Trump’s power in the party hasn’t weakened one bit.
There are also Trump candidates who are defeated – for example in Georgia. But according to a recent analysis by the Washington Post, more than 100 past Republican primary winners support the stolen election lie.
Most of them will also win the actual election in the fall because their districts are firmly in Republican hands and Democrats have no chance there. And many of them will then occupy positions in which they can influence the outcome of future elections – for example by blocking the certification of election results.
It’s also about the right to vote
“From a democratic perspective, this is absolutely terrifying,” says Ramer, pointing to the example of Pennsylvania, an important swing state – one of the states that are contested between Democrats and Republicans.
Doug Mastriano won the Republican primary for the governorship there. A man who chartered buses to take people to Trump’s “Stop the Steal” demonstration in Washington on January 6. And he said that the Republican legislature in the state should be able to decide which voters Pennsylvania will send to Washington for the presidential election.
Actually, parliaments have no say in this, but it is strictly after counting the votes. If Mastriano wins the gubernatorial election in the fall, he would oversee the state’s upcoming 2024 presidential election.
A fundamentally different party
Trump’s influence in his party remains strong – and his refusal to recognize the lost presidential election has fundamentally changed the party. This also applies to the candidates with whom she is entering the race – and who this weekend “Student Action Summit” in Tampa to show running.
Trump himself has repeatedly hinted that he could run again as a presidential candidate in 2024. DeSantis is also said to have ambitions for this. And there is currently much to suggest that the Republican presidential candidacy will be decided in their right-wing camp.