Donald Trump will unwittingly help Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections as he continues to remind voters of his efforts to overturn the last election, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote for The Guardian on Wednesday.
Reich noted Trump's controversial statements dangling pardons for Jan. 6 defendants and attacks on the prosecutors investigating him in multiple states.
"Trump’s hint of pardons for those who attacked the Capitol could affect the criminal prosecution of hundreds now facing conspiracy, obstruction and assault charges, which carry sentences that could put them away for years. If they think Trump will pardon them, they might be less willing to negotiate with prosecutors and accept plea deals," Reich wrote. "His comments could also be interpreted as a call for violence if various legal cases against him lead to indictments."
On Tuesday, Trump put out a statement saying the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol should actually be investigating Mike Pence for not overturning the election.
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"But if Trump keeps at it – and of course he will – he’ll help the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections by reminding the public of the attempted coup he and his Republican co-conspirators tried to pull off between the 2020 election and January 6. That would make the midterm election less of a referendum on Biden than on the Republican party," Reich wrote.
Reich noted that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has suggested members of the select committee should be jailed and said the two are "complicating the midterm elections prospects for all Republicans running."
"Many Republican leaders believe they don’t need to offer the public any agenda for the midterms because of widespread frustration with Biden and the Democrats," he noted. "But if Republicans fail to offer an agenda, the Republican party’s midterm message is even more likely to be defined by Trump and Trumpers like Gingrich: the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen along with promises to pardon the January 6 defendants, jail members of the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol, and other bonkers claims and promises. This would spell trouble for the GOP, because most Americans don’t believe the big lie and remain appalled by the attack on the Capitol."
Read the full column.
