Is Trump's base getting stronger after WH exit? Politico's Tara Palmeri says impeachment will only empower him
Donald Trump has not been the president of the US for almost two weeks now but the conclusion of his term has not pushed him into oblivion. In the contrary, the businessman-politician’s political clout has only become bigger since he left the White House, according to a prominent political observer.
Politico’s Tara Palmeri on Friday, January 29, appeared on MSNBC’s ‘Deadline: White House’ where she told the host, Nicolle Wallace, that people do not want to hear anything against Trump and cautioned that more the matter stays out of the media, more he comes a martyr and looming figure over the Republican Party.
Trump was banned by major social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Capitol Hill violence of January 6 when several of his supporters attacked the seat of the Congress to protest the victory of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The former president was accused of inciting the mob and was also impeached by the Democratic-controlled House a week later, for the second time in 13 months.
However, the GOP remained deeply split over supporting him and the party’s members in the Senate overwhelmingly refused to put the mercurial individual to trial. Meanwhile, various surveys taken in recent days also pointed out that Trump’s image in the Republican Party has got a boost.
It is also speculated that if he forms a separate party in the name of Patriot Party, the GOP could be faced with a real challenge to hold back the president’s supporters who are upset over his defeat in the presidential battle. Trump and his close allies have been claiming that the 2020 presidential battle was stolen and the Republican has not conceded defeat and skipped the inauguration of his successor.
Palmeri was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, last week to cover Florida GOP Representative Matt Gaetz’s scathing attack on his House colleague from Wyoming Liz Cheney at a rally after she backed the Democrats’ impeachment initiative against Trump for allegedly inciting the January 6 violence.
'There's a huge disconnect between Washington and rest of the country'
Speaking about her experience which also included herself feeling unsafe as she spoke with Trump’s supporters without wearing masks, Palmeri said: “It feels like another world, but that’s what’s on the ground, and I don’t think we can ignore it. And I’m really happy I went out there and saw it because I think there’s a huge disconnect right now between Washington and the rest of the country, and you know, Trump people don’t want to hear anything against Trump."
"Actually, the more he stays out of the media, the more he becomes this martyr, this looming figure over the GOP. A lot of people said they aren’t really Republicans, that they’re, like, they’re for Trump. That’s it. And it’s just — I think he’s actually getting — I think the base is getting stronger. Truly,” she said and added, "I think an impeachment [conviction] would make him even more powerful."
Palmeri, who is a co-author of Politico playbook, said a “crusade” is being waged on behalf of Trump in states like Wyoming and that he is “way more popular” than leaders like Cheney, daughter of former Republican vice president Dick Cheney, and a high-ranking Congress member from the Equality State.
“I actually went out of my way to try to find someone who would defend her (Cheney) and I really could not,” the 33-year-old Palmeri told MSNBC. “She didn't have that much name recognition, considering she's a Cheney... I mean, I said her name at a hardware store, and someone shouted a threat.”
Palmeri also said that at the anti-Cheney rally, Trump supporters expressed their distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, said the number of deaths caused by the virus was inflated and suspected the January 6 riot was a staged one and that the Antifa was behind it.