Donald Trump loyalists in the U.S. House are picking fights with Democrats and more moderate Republicans, and one columnist argued that the twice-impeached one-term president is to blame for the toxic infighting.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is harassing Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar over her Muslim faith, while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attacks Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) for calling out the Colorado Republican, and CNN's Maeve Reston ripped the mud-slinging as a "toxic squabble."
"In its totality, the embarrassing inter-party schism -- and the lack of immediate consequences for Boebert's inflammatory comments -- underscored that the gutter politics that Trump ushered into Washington have only gotten worse following his retreat from the White House," Reston writes.
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appears unwilling to put a stop to the theatrics, because Greene and Boebert have Trump's backing and a national following the far-right base.
WATCH: Marjorie Taylor Greene whines about being in Congress
"Republican leaders like McCarthy, whose chances of becoming speaker of the House hinge on maintaining the support of Trump and his hard-right acolytes, have not shown that they have any effectual way of dealing with the increasingly angry and toxic culture within the House of Representatives that has led to frightening threats against members, including Omar," Reston writes. "No matter how outrageous or reckless the comments of Trump acolytes like Boebert and Greene get, they always seem to find protection in their closeness to the former President, whose tight grip on the party never seems to abate."
"In the absence of consequences, the behavior only seems to grow more abhorrent -- and that could cost Republicans at the ballot box next year as they try to win back moderate and suburban voters who were alienated by Trump," she adds.
