New Reports: Trump “Sets Off Yet Another GOP Civil War,” “Rattles McConnell’s U.S. Midterm Elections Strategy”

Reuters: “Senate Republican leaders were quick to acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.”

USA Today: “Their extended feud now threatens to stoke bruising primary fights ahead of the midterms, potentially leaving Republicans candidates weakened for the general elections.”

A series of new reports are highlighting how Trump has set “off yet another GOP civil war” – escalating a feud with McConnell that “threatens to stoke bruising primary fights ahead of the midterms” and “creating new headaches for Republicans” who “acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.”

See for yourself:

CNN: Trump sets off yet another GOP civil war, risking party’s midterm strategy

• McConnell… spoke out on a day that laid bare the split that will haunt his party all the way to November.

• Yet again, the GOP is being dragged into internal recriminations and down an extreme road that could lead to violence and fresh assaults on democracy by the demagoguery, loyalty demands and obsessions of the ex-President.

• The price of entry to the 2022 campaign for Republicans is now not just acceptance of Trump’s stolen election delusions but a willingness to deny the truth of the worst attack on democracy in modern American history.

• Such radicalism threatens to turn the midterm campaign into yet another public therapy session for the ex-President… Trump’s post-election tantrum helped cost the party two US Senate seats in Georgia.

• This time, Trump’s fury threatens to… remind critical suburban voters why they soured on the GOP during Trump’s presidency.

Bloomberg: Trump and the RNC Step on McConnell’s Midterms Strategy

• Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell’s attempt to steer the party past former President Donald Trump’s election grievances to reclaim the majority has run headlong into the Republican National Committee and its characterization of the mob that attacked the Capitol last year.

• He’s confronted with many in the party who are still focused on the last election rather than winning the next one.

• The conundrum for McConnell is that the bulk of Republican voters are with Trump, and messy public fighting with the former president doesn’t help him achieve his goal of winning back the Senate.

USA Today: As Trump and McConnell feud over GOP’s future, Republican candidates tread lightly

• Their extended feud now threatens to stoke bruising primary fights ahead of the midterms, potentially leaving Republicans candidates weakened for the general elections and undermining GOP efforts to retake the Senate.
  
  
• Many Republicans fear open warfare will lead to the nomination of too-Trumpy extremists who would lose general elections to Democrats.

• Trump’s volatility makes some Republicans wonder if they can keep the lid on the divisive dispute with McConnell. Already, the Trump-McConnell schism is affecting at least one Senate race and could infiltrate states like Missouri and Arizona and perhaps more.

• Trump has periodically attacked McConnell as “gutless,” “stupid,” a “broke old crow” and “a loser.” He has said Republicans should look for a new Senate leader, starting with the mid-term elections this November.

• As the Trump factor hovers over 2022, some Republicans are haunted by the specter of elections past.

Reuters: Republican infighting rattles McConnell’s U.S. midterm elections strategy

• Mitch McConnell… has taken a hit with [Republicans’] fresh infighting over last year’s Capitol attack and censure of two lawmakers.

• Senate Republican leaders were quick to acknowledge the trouble that party divisions might pose for Republican Senate candidates.

The Hill: Trump creates new Jan. 6 headaches for GOP

• Former President Trump is creating new headaches for Republicans after he floated pardons for Jan. 6 attack participants and lashed out at former Vice President Mike Pence for not overturning the 2020 election.

• “Loyalty to Trump has emerged as a litmus test for many Republicans, including in key battleground GOP primaries.

Washington Post: Trump attacks McConnell after he criticizes RNC censure of two House Republicans probing Jan. 6 insurrection

• The back-and-forth between Trump and McConnell underscored fissures between the two men as well as between factions of the Republican Party that they represent.

• Democrats, meanwhile, are reveling in the intraparty fighting between pro-Trump Republicans and the establishment wing of the GOP.

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