'Spineless and corrupt' Republicans are turning on each other to protect Trump: columnist

In a column for the conservative Bulwark, political commentator William Saletan suggested that the Republican Party has given up any pretense of being anything other than a cult devoted to Donald Trump and don't seem to care that their descent into full-blown corruption is on full display.

Using the censure of Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY), as well as the pushback against former vice president Mike Pence, as prime examples, Saletan accused the GOP of trying to "rationalize" the war on their own party members.

"With very few exceptions, elected Republicans lack the integrity or courage to stand up for Cheney, Kinzinger, or Pence. Instead, they’ve been inventing excuses for the censure, for Trump’s attempts to block the peaceful transfer of power, and for burying the Jan. 6th investigation," he wrote before adding, "Republican politicians love to accuse Democrats of moral relativism. But when they’re asked about shameful conduct by Trump or his party, these same Republicans shrink from judgment."

"In lieu of defending the censure, some Republicans point out that Cheney has been purged from House GOP leadership over her apostasy (she was replaced last May as House Republican Conference chair by Stefanik) and will probably lose her primary back home. To them, her ouster and Kinzinger’s decision not to seek re-election are the only verdicts that matter," he continued. "This is how McCarthy thinks: Right and wrong are irrelevant. All that counts is winning or losing."

WATCH: 'We followed no rules' in 'crazy and strange' Trump White House

"Not everything in the RNC’s censure resolution is a lie. It’s true, for instance, that Cheney and Kinzinger have engaged in behavior 'inconsistent with the position' of the House GOP. It’s also true that their conduct in the Jan. 6th investigation is 'not befitting Republican members of Congress,'" he wrote before wryly pointing out, "That’s because the position of the House GOP is spineless obeisance to Trump, and the conduct of Republican members has been thoroughly corrupt."

"What unites today’s Republican party is a steadfast commitment not to any underlying principle, but to rationalizing a complete lack thereof," he concluded.

You can read more here.