Trump pushed America 'to the brink' last year and 'that peril remains': Reporter Robert Costa
In an interview with NPR Monday, Washington Post reporter Robert Costa promoted his and Bob Woodward's new book Peril, which will be released to the public on Tuesday.
Speaking to Steve Inskeep, Costa described the strange way that Republicans seem to hate former President Donald Trump but also still want him to run again in 2024. He noted that the country and the Republican Party were both brought to the brink and he doesn't understand why the party leaders would want that again.
"He has been trying to get President Trump to run again," Costa said of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). "And he is someone - even though he has said publicly - and in our book documents privately - that this election fraud stuff is B.S., he's been trying to get President Trump to get to a better spot. He believes President Trump is the future of the Republican Party, that he could come back in 2024. And that's partly why we called the book Peril. Woodward and I realized that this system, the American system and also the Republican Party were tested to the brink, and that peril remains. President Trump's a political figure who remains on the scene with immense political capital."
Inskeep noted that using Graham's own words could paint a terrible picture of Donald Trump throughout the years. He didn't understand why Graham keeps coming back to Trump.
"The question I ask as a reporter is, why do all these Republicans seem to want him to run again?" said Costa. "Maybe not necessarily Leader McConnell in the Senate based on our reporting, who says President Trump privately is almost like an off-track thoroughbred, a Kentucky term. But you see the Republicans searching for a way to come back in 2022, 2024. And they see President Trump, with his appeal to his voters, is probably maybe their only horse. But there are others out there who are trying to compete, maybe even Pence."
He went on to say that there was an internal debate in the GOP between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Graham about the direction of the party. McConnell wants to move toward traditional Republicanism where Graham wants full Trumpism.
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