Republican blasts party for standing by Trump after Ukraine complaint: 'We'll deserve what we get'

Writing at the Daily Beast, Republican strategist Rory Cooper lambasted his own party for standing by the president in light of the Ukraine whistleblower complaint and said the GOP will reap the whirlwind if they run interference for the president as he faces impeachment.

Explaining that he is well aware that Democrats have been looking for a way to oust Trump since he was elected after losing the popular vote, Cooper explained that the implications of both the whistleblower complaint and Trump's own words in the redacted transcript the White House released are too large to ignore.

"As a Republican who has watched partisan politics play out in Washington for over two decades, I’m sympathetic to the argument that Democrats wanted to impeach President Trump since the day he was inaugurated," Cooper began. "However, it was just as certain to me that he would eventually do something to justify impeachment. And early appearances suggest he has."

Regarding the impeachment proceedings that are now going forward, with the Ukraine phonecall being the last straw, Cooper said Trump has no one to blame but himself.

"If this is a witch hunt, it’s one coming from inside the White House. If this all doesn’t warrant a serious congressional investigation and impeachment inquiry, nothing does," he wrote. "at this time, on this issue, it is the right thing to do. Members of Congress can be judicious and tempered, appealing for more information and scrutiny, but they should not defend these actions or write them off as unserious or partisan."

"What President Trump did was wrong, in the best circumstances," he continued. "And the Republican Party will be a shell of itself moving forward if it cannot say as much."

"Republicans know in their heart of hearts that Trump is more than capable of embarrassing them. He has one care in the world, and it his personal survival. They have to ask themselves, if this conduct in office is acceptable, what is not acceptable?" he wrote, before offering a plan for the future.

"The Republican Party was always going to need to turn the page from Trumpism. Maybe we should start sooner, rather than later," he concluded.

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