Tuesday, December 29, 2020

WSJ Board: Trump Is Sabotaging GA Senate Runoffs

Donald Trump is yet again proving that there is no true upside for the Republican Party's self-prostitution to Trump.  It's all about Trump 24/7 and now the Wall Street Editorial board has called Trump out for sabotaging the Georgia Senate runoff elections by splitting the party in the Senate or forcing the embattled GOP incumbents to vote for paltry relief for financially suffering constituents. My personal view is that it is wonderful that these spineless Republicans are now caught in the bonfire of Trump's petulant self-absorbed rants and fantasy world where he did not decisively lose the 2020 election. These Republicans jettisoned morality and what few principles the GOP had left when the jumped on the Trump clown car. A piece in Axios looks at the Wall Street Journal's summation of the situation:

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on Monday effectively accusing President Trump of sabotaging Republicans' chances of winning the Georgia Senate runoffs with his push for $2,000 stimulus checks, calling it an "in-kind contribution to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden."

Why it matters: It's another sharp criticism from a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch — co-chair of Fox Corp. and executive chair of News Corp — that comes one day after the New York Post said Trump is "cheering for an undemocratic coup" with his efforts to overturn the election he lost.

What they're saying: "Senate Republicans oppose the $2,000 for these sound reasons, but Mr. Trump has put them in a political spot. Democrats immediately joined Mr. Trump’s call for the $2,000, and on Monday they passed the larger amount through the House, 275-134," the WSJ editorial board wrote.

    • "That leaves Mr. McConnell with a tough call of barring a vote as Democrats bang away in TV ads in Georgia against GOP incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Or he can hold a vote, which would split the GOP caucus and upset fiscally conservative voters."
    • "By all accounts Mr. Trump is angry about his election defeat, and he is lashing out at anyone who won’t indulge his hopeless campaign to overturn it. ... Mr. Trump’s narcissism isn’t news. But if Republicans lose the two Georgia seats and their majority, Republicans across the country should know to thank Mr. Trump for their 2021 tax increase."

The big picture: The Journal has not endorsed a presidential candidate since 1928, but the newspaper's editorial board — along with other Murdoch-owned media outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post — has traditionally been favorable to Trump.

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