Trump’s Already Stuffing House GOP ‘Normies’ in a Locker
Plus: Who wants to get married the Saturday before Election Day?
On Wednesday, Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell wrote about the many ways Republican-aligned pundits and media personalities have gone after former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly after he went on the record to describe a conversation in which Trump praised Hitler’s generals.1
But among Republican members of Congress, the reaction has been almost uniform: dead silence. This is because after eight years of making excuses for Trump’s behavior, elected Republicans know that there are only two real options in a situation like this: Defend him vigorously and with increasingly ridiculous excuses, or say nothing at all. (The third option, criticizing him, is regarded a form of career suicide.) A conversation I had this week with a GOP lawmaker demonstrates how Republican politicians have honed their political reflexes to such a degree that defending Trump and making excuses for him come as naturally as breathing.
Just a few hours before the Kelly story was published, I caught up with Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) after he presided over a pro forma session in the House. I asked him about recent comments from another of Trump’s top generals, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley. Here’s how it went:
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