Why is anyone surprised drumpf / trump did this? He incited the 6 JAN 21 insurrection, that is why he didn't take any decisive action to stop it. He turned the traitors who were tried, convicted and punished into political prisoners and maintained a propaganda campaign for them all the way to his inauguration allowing this to happen. Sens McConnell, Graham, Collins, Cruz, Cassidy, and Tillis, why didn't you challenge drumpf / trump on this in the past 4 years? Maybe because you didn't condemn his treasonous insurrection and then didn't make sure he was convicted in the Senate after he was impeached by the House? And where were you at the republican national convention in 2024? Oh that's right, you were endorsing drumpf / trump-vance. You do have another chance to prevent more damage to our democratic Republic, side with the Senate Democrats to deny confirmation of most of drumpf's / trump's cabinet nominees forcing him to nominate people actually qualified for the positions. I have a good idea what you will choose to do, how sad for America. From the Washington Post.....
The GOP’s stunning response to Trump pardoning those who assaulted police
Trump has worn his party down, and few events crystallize it like the GOP’s muted — and, in some cases, positive — response.
Yesterday at 4:17 p.m. EST
Aaron Blake is senior political reporter, writing for The Fix. A Minnesota native, he has also written about politics for the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Hill newspaper.
“To seek a pardon of these people would be wrong,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) told Fox News. “I think it would destroy President Trump, and I hope we don’t go down that road.”
Graham even said that such a move “reinforces violence.”
But now that President Donald Trump has gone there and granted clemency to every Jan. 6 defendant — including those who assaulted police — the response from Republicans has been strikingly muted. And some are even giving Trump a nod of approval, a remarkable episode that shows how Trump gradually lures his party to vouch for the previously unthinkable.
Few GOP lawmakers ventured voluntary statements on the matter after Trump on Monday night issued clemency. When they were asked about it Tuesday, a handful of critics emerged.
Among the most outspoken was former Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (Kentucky), who told Semafor: “No one should excuse violence. And particularly violence against police officers.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) offered similar comments, telling reporters, “People who assault police officers, if they do the crime, they should do the time.”
“I’m disappointed to see that, and I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) said, referring to the Capitol Police officers who were assaulted.
Sen. Thom Tillis (North Carolina) added: “Anybody who is convicted of assault on a police officer, I can’t get there, at all. I think it was a bad idea.”
Plenty of other Republicans didn’t seem to want to engage or offered muted responses.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (South Dakota) said he was not “looking backwards” and claimed the blanket pardons were actually done on a case-by-case basis. Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) indicated she was unfamiliar with the pardons but would disagree with them if they were for violent offenders. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) emphasized that it was Trump’s prerogative.
But perhaps most remarkably, some even approved:
- Sen. Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) told Fox News that he didn’t want to pardon violent offenders but that the Justice Department’s handling of the cases made him fully supportive.
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Alabama) said that he was “100 percent” for all of the pardons and that the defendants had served enough time. When pressed on those who assaulted police, Tuberville said that was “not acceptable” but that he “didn’t see” the video.
- Sen. Jim Banks (Indiana) added that it was a “disgrace how all of these people were treated” and said that because Trump had previewed his plans and won the election, his action was justified.
In fact, Trump didn’t firmly signal a desire to pardon violent Jan. 6 defendants, either before or after the election; at one point, he even suggested he was focused on nonviolent offenders. Also, polling has shown Americans pretty strongly opposed the idea of pardons more broadly, and especially pardons for those who assaulted police.
And just because a candidate wins an election doesn’t mean the electorate approved of everything they proposed; many factors influence a voter’s decision, and people balance their priorities. (Trump’s win was also far from the landslide he proclaimed it was. He won a plurality of the popular vote — by about 1.5 percentage points.)
In sum, Republicans are all over the map on the pardons. But that so few seem eager to even express disapproval of pardoning so many people who assaulted police — and some are even aligning themselves with a decision that a poll recently showed three-quarters of Americans oppose — is a watershed moment in our politics.
And it has been a long time coming. One of the overriding lessons of the Trump era for GOP lawmakers is that those who criticize him not only pay the price with their base, but they often see things they once regarded as beyond the pale become the party line — typically with the help of fading memories and plenty of retconning.
The question becomes: Do GOP lawmakers really want to step out there and criticize or try to stop the guy whom their base so adores — especially if it won’t make much difference, and they might be made to regret their words later on?
The easy move is just to ignore it, try to move forward and find the things they can vouch for. That’s especially the case with pardons, which are a presidential prerogative and on which the Senate has few tools at its disposal beyond potential reform — a distant prospect.
But defending or giving Trump a pass on something so unpopular is also the kind of thing that could seemingly hurt Republicans politically moving forward, if Democrats can play their cards right. And it also has huge ramifications for our body politic if this is the kind of thing that becomes normalized and doesn’t rile up more opposition from the president’s party.
Trump has clearly worn his party down. And few events crystallize it like this one.
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