The terror of losing
Why so many Republicans pretend to respect Trump


Veteran journalist Mark Leibovich asked Sen. Lindsey Graham a few years ago why he went from calling candidate Donald Trump "a complete idiot" and a "race-baiting xenophobic bigot" to fawning over the newly elected president on frequent dates on the golf course. "If you know anything about me, it'd be odd not to do this," Graham responded without a trace of shame. It was his nature, the senator explained, "to try to be relevant." This affliction — the need to be relevant, important, on the inside — explains why so many Republicans have feigned admiration for Trump no matter what he says or does. Going to work in the august chambers of Congress has always been heady stuff; the prestige, status, and deference from others that comes with the gig is so intoxicating that many elected officials will do anything to keep their seats — even kneel before an amoral, would-be autocrat. To lose an election over principle, as Liz Cheney did this week, becomes a form of death. Any indignity is preferable to becoming ordinary again. (See Main Stories, p.5.)
By standing up for democracy and her own conscience, Cheney has won far more than she lost. A conservative Republican who'd voted with Trump 93 percent of the time, she denounced him when he tried to overturn an election he decisively lost. After Trump "lit the flame" of the Jan. 6 insurrection, as she put it, Graham and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy briefly joined Cheney in public expressions of disgust. "Count me out," Graham said. "Enough is enough." McCarthy said Trump "bears responsibility." But then Graham and McCarthy saw that Fox News and Trump's base were sticking with him, and they crawled back to smooch his derriere. "Defending the indefensible," is how Cheney described her craven colleagues. When Trump is long gone, she warned them, "your dishonor will remain." Cheney has lost her seat, but not her integrity or her soul.
This is the editor's letter in the current issue of The Week magazine
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
William Falk is editor-in-chief of The Week, and has held that role since the magazine's first issue in 2001. He has previously been a reporter, columnist, and editor at the Gannett Westchester Newspapers and at Newsday, where he was part of two reporting teams that won Pulitzer Prizes.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US