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Even after the Capitol insurrection and after the inauguration of Joe Biden as president, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump continues to peddle his election fraud claims and stoke panic and fear amongst lawmakers and citizens. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said that the former president would continue to worsen the political climate to his benefit.
Speaking on CNN Tuesday, Haberman was pressed on the former president’s efforts to continue to support political violence and worsening the political climate in the US. Anchor John Berman pressed Haberman to what extent does the former president uses the current political climate to his advantage in taking control of the Republican Party, citing the insurrection as well as the big lie.
“Well, look, Donald Trump governs by fear and always has governed by fear,” said Haberman. “And to that extent that you have Republicans who are looking not just to him as somebody who is their leader but also looking at a common enemy, in their view, in Democrats. And Trump has certainly stoked that, that’s in his -- to his benefit and in his favor and it is something he prefers. He wants Republicans to look at Democrats as their enemy.”
Haberman noted that while Republicans have criticized the current political climate as being toxic, but added that Democrats are also facing the same threats, which are partly why the political environment is what it is. The New York Times reporter also said that the twice-impeached former president is historically good at further fueling the fire rather than calling for calm.
In other related news, some Republicans have expressed frustration following the revelation that the legal bills that the former president is incurring are being shouldered by the Republican National Committee, according to CNN. This has led those Republicans, among them current GOP officials, to question the RNC’s priorities and its ability to remain neutral in legal matters.
Some of the same officials told CNN that they wondered why the RNC would need to shoulder the bills of the former president’s legal battles, despite Trump being a self-proclaimed billionaire with millions in his war chest.
“This is not normal. Nothing about this is normal especially since he’s not only a former president but a billionaire,” said a former RNC official.
