The greatest threat for Republicans now comes from inside their party: columnist

The biggest threat facing GOP politicians in the age of Donald Trump is that from violent supporters of their own party's likely presidential nominee, according to New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie,.

Bouie cites the examples of Mitt Romney, who hired personal security for him and his family, and former Michigan Rep. Peter Meijer, who purchased body armor after receiving threats. Both Romney and Meijer rejected Trump's claims of a stolen 2020 election.

"It’s not only Republicans in Congress, either. Republican lawmakers and election officials in critical swing states like Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin have received threats on their lives for following the law and rejecting Trump’s demands to find or throw out votes in the last presidential election," Bouie wrote.

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Bouie contends that it was the threat of violence that kept more Republicans from voting for Trump's impeachment. He also says that threats have prevented a meaningful anti-Trump faction from sprouting within the GOP.

"It’s hard, under normal circumstances, to take a stand against the leader of your political party," he wrote. "It is even more difficult, as well as frightening, to do so when the cost of your opposition is a threat to your life or your family."

According to Bouie, threats of political violence from Trump supporters won't be going away any time soon.

"Political violence doesn’t simply wind down of its own accord. There is almost always a settlement. There is almost always a winner," he wrote.

Read the full op-ed over at The New York Times.