Are Republicans starting to pull away from Donald Trump?

[DonViejo]

MONDAY, MAY 15, 2017 11:50 AM EDT
Are Republicans starting to pull away from Donald Trump?

The president's penchant for creating political crises is creating headaches for his own party

MATTHEW ROZSA

As the firing of FBI Director James Comey pulls President Donald Trump deeper and deeper into scandal, the Republican Party remains deeply ambivalent about how to respond to its wayward leader.

New reports indicate that party leaders in Congress are bucking the president in part because they feel a lack of strong leadership in the crisis-to-crisis environment created by the Trump administration, according to a report by The New York Times. Many Republicans are openly disagreeing with the president on issues like the North American Free Trade Agreement (which Trump has said he wants to pull America out of) or getting rid of the national drug control office, while the short-term spending measure did not prioritize the Mexico border wall that Trump promised during the 2016 campaign.

A big part of the problem for Republicans is the fact that Trump’s ongoing tribulations involving the Russia scandal are a constant source of unwelcome distraction. Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have already called on Trump to turn over any tapes he may have of conversations between himself and Comey, while Sens. Dean Heller of Nevada and Jeff Flake of Arizona had stood up to the president on a number of other issues — a clear sign that, as they face reelection next year, they’re concerned Trump may be more liability than asset.

In a similar vein, Axios reports that senior Republicans are concerned about the Democratic Party’s success in recruiting strong congressional candidates for the upcoming House elections in 2018. Republicans congressmen like Reps. Mike Coffman of Colorado, Barbara Comstock of Virginia, Ryan Costello of Pennsylvania, and Duncan Hunter of California are all being targeted.

Not all experts share the prevailing view that the GOP is beginning to pull away from Trump, however.

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http://www.salon.com/2017/05/15/are-republicans-starting-to-pull-away-from-donald-trump/

[muntrv]

1. When McConnell starts to pull away, then I'll believe it.

[Eyeball_Kid]

2. Trumpy has McConnell by the balls. McConnell is complicit in money laundering, IMO.

McConnell won't pull away. He's looking out for himself, sees Trumpy as the mob boss. This is why the GOP leadership is cowardly and gutless.

[jberryhill]

3. Do unicorns prefer leprechauns to elves?

Republicans fucking love this orange clown.

He is the walking, talking embodiment of everything Republicans and Christians stand for and have fought for in our politics since 1980.