Some Republican senators, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), are concerned that conservative populism is taking over the Republican Party — concerns which coincide with increased distrust in federal agencies and establishment media outlets.
Distrust for basic institutions has continued to bubble throughout President Biden’s time in office, particularly in light of the Department of Justice (DOJ) targeting former President Donald Trump while seemingly allowing Biden family corruption to go relatively unaddressed. Such mounting concerns led to the creation of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, which has worked to showcase the corruption of the FBI and DOJ.
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According to a report from the Hill, “GOP senators are saying they’re being increasingly confronted by constituents who buy into discredited conspiracy theories,” listing a 2020 stolen election and the feds inciting the January 6 Capitol protest as such “conspiracies.”
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“We should be concerned about this as Republicans,” Murkowski said, according to the Hill.
“I’m having more ‘rational Republicans’ coming up to me and saying, ‘I just don’t know how long I can stay in this party,'” she continued. “Now our party is becoming known as a group of kind of extremist, populist over-the-top [people] where no one is taking us seriously anymore.”
“I think it’s going to get even more interesting as we move closer to the elections and we start going through some of these primary debates,” she added. “Is it going to be a situation of who can be more outlandish than the other?”
The Hill highlighted another senator, who wished to remain anonymous, who said there is “an astonishing number of people in my state who believe the election was stolen.” A second senator reportedly told the outlet that conservative populism “makes it a lot more difficult to govern, it makes it difficult to talk to constituents.”
“There are people who surprise me — I’m surprised they have those views. It’s amazing to me the number of people, the kind of people who think the election was stolen,” the unnamed lawmaker told the outlet.
“I don’t want to use this word but it’s not just a ‘red-neck’ thing. It’s people in business, the president of a bank, a doctor,” the lawmaker added, noting that many view D.C. politicians as “disconnected,” which feeds the discontent which the individual believes some colleagues are capitalizing on.
The worries come as former President Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 after emerging as the populist candidate, continues to dominate in both state-level and national Republican primary polls, indicating a thirst for the populist movement yet again.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Turning Point Action conference on July 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Trump has capitalized on the concerns expressed by his base, even calling on Congress to defund the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), at least temporarily, in April.
“REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS SHOULD DEFUND THE DOJ AND FBI UNTIL THEY COME TO THEIR SENSES,” Trump wrote in an all caps post on Truth Social in April, concluding Democrats have weaponized law enforcement and are engaging in election interference.
He continued, “THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TOTALLY WEAPONIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY AND ARE VICIOUSLY USING THIS ABUSE OF POWER TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ALREADY UNDER SIEGE ELECTIONS!”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) is among those who have called out Democrats for the weaponization of the DOJ — a major concern for Americans as most have indicated that there are “two-tiers” of the justice system — asserting that it is engaging in a form of election interference.
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