The Republican Fever Doesn’t Appear to be Breaking.
By: Lauren Elizabeth
Tags: Politics, Donald Trump, Elections, Government, Republican Party

The Republican Fever Doesn’t Appear to be Breaking.

Photograph by Caroline Brehman / CQ Roll Call / Getty

As many of us might already know, Donald Trump’s long shot efforts to overturn the results of the election have gotten nowhere, with all viable avenues to achieving his goal of a soft coup all but gone entirely. Unfortunately however, the theory that Trump’s fellow Republicans would somehow see the light after the election as many liberals hoped and even expected does not seem to be coming to fruition. Frankly, their behavior is even more unsettling than I expected, and only confirms that the Republican “fever” won’t be breaking any time soon.

John Kruzel, a legal affairs and Supreme Court reporter for The Hill tweeted:

“JUST IN: New amicus brief from 106 Republican House members in support of Texas’ bid to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the Supreme Court. Here they are:”

Sure enough, attached to the tweet were a series of images of the list of 106 Republican Representatives.

In a quote from the brief, Kruzel tweeted the line:

"This brief presents [our] concern as Members of Congress, shared by untold millions of their constituents, that the unconstitutional irregularities involved in the 2020 presidential election cast doubt upon its outcome and the integrity of the American system of elections."

Frankly, I will be the first to admit — though I’m sure I’m not alone — that I’ve grown tired of talking about Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s predictable antics, and the fact that Donald Trump’s hold on them would not be disappearing any time soon. And yet it feels as though every single day, there is another alarming sign of just how dangerous it really is, leaving me feeling as though it would be irresponsible to ignore it.

Of those 106 Representatives, my own Congresswoman Elise Stefanik was among them.

Elise Stefanik, whom one might not have expected to draw much focus considering she represents rural Northern New York, garnered national attention with her performance at Donald Trump’s impeachment hearings, which then earned her a slot to speak at the Republican National Convention. Donald Trump himself is fond of her, gave her his full endorsement for re-election, and — as we might expect from an unapologetic Trump sycophant like herself — referred to her Democratic opponent as “‘taxin’ Tedra” for the duration of not one, but two election cycles. Elise not only won her re-election against Tedra Cobb, she won in a landslide.

Sure, her opponent may have run what was genuinely the worst campaign I have ever witnessed, but that does little to change the fact that Stefanik is not only a fixture here in the north country and beloved among the local Republican voters, but people have begun to wonder, even hope she runs for President one day. Whether she runs in 2024, 2028, or 2032, it does seem fairly clear that Stefanik has her eyes on bigger things, and has used Donald Trump in order to further her goals. The very same Stefanik who’s currently supporting efforts to overturn the results of a democratic election.

Elise Stefanik is not the only Republican on that list with a growing or already well-known national profile who might have their eyes on higher office one day. She is joined by Dan Crenshaw, Matt Gaetz, and Jim Jordan. Steve King and Louie Gohmert also happened to be on the list, though admittedly their future prospects seem more limited.

Many, including myself, have worried about the likes of Tucker Carlson or Tom Cotton rising to take Donald Trump’s place. Clearly, there are not just a handful, but 106 other Republican lawmakers that we need to be worried about as well, and that only happens to be on the federal level.

As much as we might like to move on from these past four years and pretend as though they never happened, this brief serves as just one in a long list of reasons why we cannot afford to do so. Obviously, not only is this sort of behavior deeply undemocratic, it also sends a loud and clear message that every single one of these Republican lawmakers would not hesitate to do exactly what Donald Trump is doing if they were in his shoes. Shoes that they might be aiming to fill in the near future, and will succeed if we are not careful. These legislators have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are willing to exploit the angers and frustrations of the Republican base, and every crack in what’s left of our fragile “democracy” in order to maintain or gain more power, and that’s not something we are able to simply wish away or ignore.

As the incomparable Maya Angelou once said: