To countless scholars, advocates and political actors, the violent mob that stormed the halls of Congress on Jan. 6 was not exactly surprising. To some, it wasn’t a matter of whether a mob inspired by Donald Trump would kick down the doors of the Capitol, but when. “This situation, in […] Read more »
The House and Senate GOP are operating in different political universes
It is normal for a party’s House and Senate caucuses to have different temperaments. But in recent weeks, congressional Republicans have seemed to be operating in different political universes. After Republicans of all stripes spent weeks entertaining President Trump’s electoral fantasies, lawmakers had to show their cards with the Jan. […] Read more »
Some in the GOP parrot far-right talk of a coming civil war
War-like imagery has begun spreading in Republican circles after the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters, with some elected officials and party leaders rejecting pleas to tone down rhetoric calling for a second civil war. … The heightened rhetoric mimics language far-right extremists […] Read more »
Trump will leave office with his lowest approval rating ever
Throughout four years of scandals and investigations, President Trump has maintained an approval rating that rarely budged from a 10-point band between 35 and 45 percent. Nothing he could say, do or tweet appeared to dramatically change public opinion of him. But the events of Jan. 6 — when a […] Read more »
Trump leaves behind a Republican Party both broken and still in his grip
There are many parts of the legacy President Trump will leave behind when his term ends Wednesday. One of them is a broken Republican Party. In four years, Trump ideologically twisted a party that once had a coherent conservative governing philosophy, which he does not. He put a vise grip […] Read more »
Trump finishes with worst first term approval rating ever
… A big question during the Trump presidency was whether anything could actually move the public opinion needle. It turns out that the insurrection at the US Capitol last week did exactly that. The result is that Trump’s final first term approval rating looks to be the lowest on record […] Read more »