impeachment round 2
Trump allies are amazed at how much his reputation has recovered since the Capitol riot
It's barely been a month since hundreds of former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol. He hasn't even undergone his impeachment trial for his role in sparking the uprising. And yet Trump is already planning a redemption tour of sorts — and his allies are surprised at how well it's going, Politico reports.
In the days after the riot, Trump lost a lot of the things he held dear throughout his presidency: his Twitter account and the widespread support of congressional Republicans, for two. But just weeks later, the House GOP tried to take down its highest-ranking member who voted to impeach Trump, and state Republican parties have started censuring anyone who dared criticize him. As one former Trump campaign official put it to Politico, "He's Teflon, right. It's been a month since the Capitol riot and I would say, for the most part, the GOP has coalesced back behind him."
Next up on Trump's redemption plan is exacting revenge on Republicans who tried to banish him as his power waned. Impeachment may actually help Trump with this, the former campaign official told Politico, because it's "going to help expose more bad apples that he can primary if any senators vote to convict." It's not clear how Trump will do this, as he still can't tweet, and has already lost one high-profile platform with the cancellation of Lou Dobbs' Fox Business Network show. But Trump has still sent out the occasional press release to respond to things he really doesn't like, suggesting he'll be able to get his messages out there.
In the meantime, Trump has reportedly kept in touch with allies while laying low at Mar-a-Lago. One former aide reportedly even suggested he play golf this week just to prove he's not concerned with what's going on in the Senate. Read more at Politico.