The Trump Cult

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has taken a stand against the Trumpists in his party. He is likely to remain a lone voice in the wilderness.

As Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell was supposed to be the strong man of the Republican Party, but since it transformed into a Trump cult, a formal office in the Grand Old Party doesn’t mean much anymore.

The censure of two prominent members of Congress who spoke out against Donald Trump’s fairy tale about the stolen election by their own party demonstrates just how firm the former president’s grip on the party actually is. The resolution against the two members of Congress described the Jan. 6 demonstration that led to the storming of the Capitol as “legitimate political discourse.”

McConnell strongly objected to this characterization, but he is likely to remain a lone voice in the wilderness. The polls are not discouraging Trump, who has yet to announce another presidential run in 2024, and his political disciples will try to score points by pushing his issues in as many constituencies as possible in the November midterms.

If the Republicans manage to retake the Senate or even the House, the influence of old-school conservatives like McConnell will fade away. That would not be good. These people were often the last bastion of American democracy during the Trump years.