Will GOP accepting Donald Trump's loss lead to revolt at base and loss of seats? Here's why Reds are in a fix
Ever since incumbent President Donald Trump finished second best to his Democratic opponent Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, the Republican camp is in a disarray. While there are people who have felt the pressure to back the mercurial leader, thanks to his closest aides, there are also others who feel not conceding the election is not the right thing to do.
Amid the dilemma, top members of the GOP are facing another challenge. They are hesitating to call Biden the president-elect openly, fearing that doing so would incite a rebellion at the grassroots conservative quarters that are loyal to President Trump, adversely affecting the party’s majority in the Senate. Both the Republicans and Democrats are still in a tug-of-war to wrest control of the key chamber and it now depends on the election runoffs in Georgia in January to decide who will eventually clinch it. The GOP has not been able to win a majority in the House and lost the presidency. It is now looking to salvage some pride by keeping its control over the Senate.
According to a report in the Washington Examiner, insiders in the Republican Party concede that the former vice president ousted Trump and dismissed the claims of voter fraud or ballot error as reasons to challenge the outcome. But given the stakes of retaining control of the Senate and the midterm elections of 2022, most of the Republican members in Congress are still throwing their weights behind the president.
The Republicans are worried that the party would sit on its hands for the next two years if they get away from Trump and dismiss his concerns about the balloting process. The party is facing an even bigger dilemma since it has bagged some key wins in the House and poised to maintain the lead in the Senate.
'The base will turn back on GOP'
“If they inject themselves before the conversation ends, the base is going to turn its back on congressional Republicans,” Brian Lanza, a GOP operative and former Trump adviser, was quoted as saying by the Examiner. A Republican strategist with ties to the party’s establishment on Capitol Hill agreed with that assessment.
“So long as the campaign is pursuing actual legal remedies, the voters will expect our politicians to hang in there,” he said. “Trump’s never-back-down approach is about 90% of his appeal for Republican voters.”
“In the United States of America, all legal ballots must be counted; any illegal ballots must not be counted,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who won his re-election bid, said on November 9. “President Trump is 100% within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.”
“After counting every valid vote and allowing courts to resolve disputes, it is important to promptly accept the result,” outgoing Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, an ally to McConnell, said in a statement. “The orderly transfer or reaffirming of immense power after a presidential election is the most enduring symbol of our democracy.”
Biden, 77, was looking strong to win 306 electoral college votes — the same number that Trump won four years ago. He was declared the president-elect on Saturday, November 7, after major media organizations projected him to win the hard-fought election.
Trump, who found himself to be a single-term president after George H W Bush (1989-93), did not concede defeat and alleged that forces came together to steal the election and defeat him. He has been critical of the mail-in ballot throughout, claiming it would lead to widespread electoral malpractice and when the results indeed went against his favor, his claims only became stronger. The administration added more to the controversy on November 9 when Attorney General William Barr asked the justice department to probe the charges of voter fraud. It has also refused to entertain the transition process to see the Biden administration taking over gradually.
Many in the GOP are skeptical that these will pay off but those thinking about the long term are still backing the president. The party is also wary that if they abandon Trump and welcome Biden as the next president, it could alienate more than 71 million voters who have backed the Republican leader (Biden got 75.8 million votes, showing how deep the polarization is), putting in peril its future prospects to win back the White House and House.