Fans of the Batman franchise film The Dark Knight Rises were startled to hear the words of the movie villain Bane coming out of Republican Pres. Donald Trump's mouth as he made his inaugural address -- purportedly written by Trump himself -- on Friday.
"We're giving the power back to you. The people," Trump said Friday, a nearly verbatim quote from Christopher and Jonathan Nolan's screenplay for the 2012 film starring Christian Bale as Batman and Tom Hardy as Bane.
Conservative Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis lit into the Republican Party for frittering away their chances of taking control of both chambers of Congress in the upcoming November midterms, claiming they only have themselves to blame because they are still in the thrall of Donald Trump.
At issue, as he notes, is a wide slate of candidates that Trump threw his support behind that are so unelectable in the general election, that the Senate may be out of reach and reclaiming the House is no longer the slam dunk that was expected by election observers.
To make his case, he cited the nomination of J.R. Majewski in conservative Ohio who was expected to have a good chance of unseating Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) after her district became more Republican.
"So how did he win the GOP nomination? During an Ohio rally in April, Trump gave Majewski a shout-out. 'He’s a great guy,' Trump said. 'I love him.' A little over a week later, Majewski won the Republican primary," he wrote before adding, "But, for Republicans, it wasn’t much of a victory. This week, on the heels of an Associated Press report alleging that Majewski misrepresented his military service (Majewski denied this, claiming his deployments are “classified”), it was reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) had withdrawn about $1 million worth of ads for the candidate."
According to Lewis, House Minority Leader Kevin McConnell (R-CA) is primarily to blame -- and it could cost him his chance to become House Speaker if the GOP does claim the chamber by a small majority.
"Trump’s support elevated unelectable candidates like Majewski, and Kevin McCarthy did nothing to prevent this or to elevate more electable candidates. Now, he’s reaping what he sowed," he explained.
He then added, "Even if they take the majority, Republicans are taking points off the board. In a business that is a game of inches, and in a year when the margins are looking tight, Republicans are poised to leave congressional seats on the table. The only question is: How many?"
"The bad news for normal Republicans who want to use this as a teachable moment is that missed opportunities don’t sting so much as long as you still come out on top," he added. "Republicans always win just enough to avoid hitting rock bottom and moving on from Trump."
"Karl Rove says Texas’ abortion law is too extreme" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Veteran GOP strategist Karl Rove said Saturday that Texas’ abortion law is too extreme, underscoring an increasingly public discomfort with the measure among Republicans.
Rove made the comment during an exchange at a Texas Tribune Festival panel about elections following the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. He said voters in Kansas had defeated an “extremist measure on abortion,” defining extreme as “essentially no abortion, no exceptions.”
“Do you think Texas is too extremist?” Tribune CEO Evan Smith asked.
“Yeah, I do,” Rove replied. “I think it’s gonna create a real problem for Republicans in the Legislature next year when they have to deal with it.”
Texas lawmakers passed a “trigger law” last year that automatically went into effect soon after the Roe decision and banned abortion without exceptions for rape or incest. Polls show very few voters support the lack of exceptions, and the law has complicated an election cycle that has been trending in Republicans’ favor on other issues.
Rove is not the only prominent Republican voice to express misgivings with Texas’ abortion ban. The speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan, said Friday at the Tribune Festival that his chamber might revisit the law, saying he has heard from members who are also concerned about the lack of exceptions for rape or incest. Also speaking Friday at the Festival, state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, said he would support a rape exception.
However, Rove noted that he supports the court’s ruling and that decisions on abortions should be left to elected officials.
The Texas Tribune Festival is here! Happening Sept. 22-24 in downtown Austin, this year’s TribFest features more than 25 virtual conversations with guests like Eric Adams, Pete Souza, Jason Kander and many others. After they air for ticket holders, anyone can watch these events at the Tribune’s Festival news page. Catch up on the latest news and free sessions from TribFest.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney said she would do “whatever it takes” to make sure former President Donald Trump is not the GOP presidential nominee during the 2024 elections, including stumping for Democrats running against election deniers running as Republicans.
When asked by Texas Tribune CEO Evan Smith if she would consider running for president toward that end, the Republican congresswoman reiterated she would do everything in her power to prevent the former president from representing her party in the next presidential election.
“I certainly will do whatever it takes to make sure Donald Trump isn't anywhere close to the Oval Office,” Cheney said during the closing night of The Texas Tribune Festival.
Cheney, who lost to a Republican primary challenger in August but will continue as vice chair of the House Jan. 6 Committee until she leaves office in January, said she continues to identify as a Republican, celebrating the legacy of the likes of Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
But she said she would no longer be a Republican if Trump gets the party’s nomination in 2024.
“I'm going to make sure Donald Trump, make sure he's not the nominee,” Cheney said. “And if he is the nominee, I won't be a Republican.”
Cheney maintained that she is an ardent conservative on policy issues, voting in near lockstep with Trump’s legislative agenda when he was in office. But she warned a House Republican majority would give outsized power to members who have been staunch allies of the former president and his efforts to keep the White House, including U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Jim Jordan.
Cheney excoriated Trump for his failure to call off rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She said without equivocation that any decision by the investigating committee about whether there should be criminal prosecution would be unanimous across the seven Democrats and two Republicans. She did not say whether the committee would decide in favor of a criminal prosecution.
“One of the things that has surprised me the most about my work on this committee is how sophisticated the plan was that Donald Trump was involved in and oversaw every step of the way,” Cheney said. “It was a multipart plan that he oversaw, he was involved in personally and directly.
“While leaders in Congress were begging him, ‘Please, tell the mob to go home,’ Donald Trump wouldn't,” Cheney said. “And just set the politics aside for a minute and think to yourself, ‘What kind of human being does that?’”
The committee is gearing up to wrap up its work in the coming weeks and is slated to meet this Wednesday for another public hearing, offering no details about what will be discussed then. She said next week’s hearing is unlikely to be the committee’s last, despite committee Chair Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., suggesting the opposite earlier this week.
When asked if she would like Trump to testify before the committee, she paused for a moment before offering the following: “Any interaction that Donald Trump has with the committee will be under oath and subject to penalty of perjury.”
Cheney suffered a precipitous loss in the Republican primary for her Wyoming seat for her role on the committee, and she said Saturday that she would not vote for the Republican nominee for her seat, Harriet Hageman, in the general election.
But she challenged the audience not to question her ability to keep fighting against Trump after she leaves the House.
When asked about her own presidential ambitions, Cheney demurred.
“It's really important not to just immediately jump to the horse race and to think about what we need as a country,” Cheney said.
Her criticisms aren’t limited to the former president. Cheney also flatly said she does not believe House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy should ever become Speaker of the House, which would put him second in line to the presidency behind the vice president.
“At every single moment, when our time of testing came and Kevin had to make a decision … he’s made the politically easy-for-him, or the politically expedient, decision instead of what the country needed,” she said.
But Cheney didn’t give up hope in her party, saying: “I think we have to have a Republican Party that can be trusted to fight for” issues such as limited government and strong national security.
Cheney’s father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is another vocal opponent of Trump. He called the former president a coward and the greatest “threat to our republic” in history in a campaign ad supporting his daughter’s primary run. Liz Cheney said that her father offered her a piece of advice on New Year’s Day this year: “‘Defend the republic, daughter.’ And I will,” she said.
The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
