In a scathing attack in the New York Times, columnist Charles Blow called out members of the Republican Party for idly standing by as President Donald Trump's administration slowly implodes because they fear his followers.
As part of his accusation, he went so far as to call Trump's rabid followers "enemies of the Republic."
Blow began his column with a blunt question: "How many people from Donald Trump’s campaign and inner circle have to confess to crimes or be convicted of them before it is clear to everyone — Republicans especially — that the campaign was guided by criminals, if not was a criminal enterprise itself?"
With that, the columnist said the silence of Republicans in light of the conviction of Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort for financial crimes and Trump lawyer Michael Cohen agreeing to a plea deal while pointing at the president as a co-conspirator, is telling.
Speaking out "would require some sense of courage and patriotism among Republicans in Congress, and those qualities have been severely lacking," Blow wrote. "They sat quiet for so long — refusing to stand up to this president — that they allowed his narrative to subsume their party. He unleashed among Republicans the ugliness that mainstream Republicans always knew was there — indeed, they exploited it — but always thought they were smart enough and strong enough to control."
According to the columnist, fear of Trump's base is at the heart of their cowardice.
"Traditional Republicans are now afraid to stand on principle because they do so at great peril of being drummed out of politics. The voters are now Trump’s noxious base, ergo Trump holds each of their fates in his hands," he wrote "Viewed that way, Trump’s base itself becomes the enemy of the Republic. "
"Every time Trump’s followers turn a blind eye to his corruption, dishonesty or hatred, they say to the Republicans they sent to Washington, 'If you are my representative, you will follow my lead and promote my desires,'" he lectured. "In effect, that means that if the base loves Trump, the base’s senators and congressmen and women are obligated to also love Trump — or at least fake it."
Blow then challenged Republicans who love their country to step up.
"Republicans in Congress, those of you who know full well that Trump is aberrant and dangerous, you have a very real choice to make here, one that is more about history than today’s Republican hysteria," he wrote. "
Will you stand up for what is right? Will you stand up for the health of the country and be on the right side of history? Will you at least initiate an investigation into Cohen’s accusation?"
"This is one of those moments for Republicans. In this moment they have to separate career goals and personal ambitions for the high requirement to properly serve the country and protect its Constitution," he wrote before posing on final question.
"They have this moment to snatch a bit of honor from the ashes of what was their party. Republicans, won’t you seize this moment?" he concluded.
You can read the whole piece here.
