MAGA movement building a system where GOP 'dissenters fear for their lives': analysis

Retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) revealed to journalist McKay Coppins that one Republican lawmaker confided to him that he wanted to vote to impeach former President Donald Trump but feared doing so due to threats to his family.

A news analysis written by Vice News' Todd Zwillich argues that this kind of intimidation is entirely how Trump's "MAGA" movement has been designed to operate.

In fact, Zwillich believes that Romney's revelations show that "MAGA Republicans are making clear that a GOP in which dissenters literally fear for their lives—and vote accordingly—is now the only game in town."

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With this in mind, Zwillich notes that this is what we should see as the true motive behind House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) decision to cave to MAGA demands to open an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden this week.

In particular, Zwillich says that the impeachment gambit simply looks like a way for Republicans to obscure the allegedly criminal conduct of the man whom polls suggest is the runaway favorite to be the party's 2024 presidential nominee.

"McCarthy is launching impeachment specifically to obscure Trump’s attack on democracy, and possibly his felony convictions for it," he argues. "He’s doing it to slide past voters the horror of Jan. 6, the same horror that compelled him to condemn Trump — just days before supplicating to him."