Trump Pushes Primary Challenge Against DeWine, Showing Risk To Republicans Who Break With Him


Trump Pushes Primary Challenge Against DeWine, Showing Risk To Republicans Who Break With Him

Topline

President Donald Trump on Monday appeared to encourage a primary challenge against Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has acknowledged Joe Biden as president-elect, in what may be an attempt to freeze Republicans considering breaking with him.

Key Facts

“Who will be running for Governor of the Great State of Ohio?” Trump tweeted on Monday – despite DeWine being eligible to run for a second term – predicting the race will be “hotly contested!”

The tweet comes just days after DeWine said flatly “Joe Biden is the president-elect,” putting him at stark odds with Trump, who has continued to reject the result and push unfounded claims of widespread fraud.

DeWine has also broken with Trump on other matters, particularly during the pandemic, criticizing his hostility towards face masks and endorsing mail-in voting despite Trump’s vocal opposition to it.

Apparently acknowledging the risks, only six Republican senators and governors and ten Republican House members – many of whom are retiring – have acknowledged Biden as president-elect, with most staying silent.

Several Republicans have conceded their continued placation of Trump is borne out of political necessity, given the significant influence Trump wields among the GOP base – which could be helpful particularly in the upcoming Georgia runoffs – and the chances that he could turn that to their destruction.

This was notably demonstrated when Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) called on Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to resign (which he has refused to do) after Trump criticized him for overseeing a state contest that Biden won.

Crucial Quote

“I think the whole Republican party has been put in a position of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president,” Biden said last Tuesday, nonetheless asserting, “I think there are enough Republicans who have already spoken out… to be able to get things done.” 

Big Number

67%. That’s the share of Ohioans who said they approve of DeWine’s job performance in a Spectrum News/Ipsos poll released in October. 

Key Background

DeWine’s sky-high approval figure comes despite rebellions against him within his own state party, with one Republican state lawmaker asking a court to order a county prosecutor to arrest him over his coronavirus response, particularly school and business closures. Several GOP lawmakers attempted to have DeWine impeached in August, also in retaliation to his relatively strict stay-at-home order.

Surprising Fact

Despite most Republican senators siding with Trump in not acknowledging Biden’s victory, few have shied away from breaking with the administration’s refusal to allow Biden to receive classified intelligence briefings. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) all Trump allies who have refused to recognize Biden as president-elect, have all nonetheless said Biden should be allowed to get the briefings.




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