(CNN)Donald Trump's presidency is in its final, chaotic spiral. But even with the end so near, each hour seems to carry a new threat to America's fragile democracy.
With
less than two weeks until President-elect Joe Biden takes office, the
nation is on edge -- unsure whether Trump will incite another round of
violence or just carry on, petulantly, seeking outlets to whine about Twitter's decision to ban him. Recognizing the instability, Vice President Mike Pence has not ruled out an effort to invoke the 25th Amendment,
a source close to the vice president told CNN Saturday night. The
relationship between Trump and Pence is fractured -- they haven't spoken
since Wednesday, when a violent mob stormed the Capitol, and the
President never bothered to check on Pence's safety.
The
insurrection put the country at a crossroads. House Democrats could
bring a new round of impeachment proceedings this week, this time over
Trump's role in inciting the deadly riot. If they go forward,
Republicans could again be faced with a public test of their loyalty.
That so few seem prepared to forcefully speak out, let alone pledge to
take action against the President, suggests the Capitol siege is less
likely to have marked the bloody end of Trumpism than the opening of a
more dangerous chapter.
The "paranoid style in American politics," as the historian Richard Hofstadter described it nearly 60 years ago, is nothing new. Under Trump, though, and through new organizing channels on social media,
it has further radicalized the modern Republican Party and moved
steadily from the fringes to the center of political power in Washington
and state capitals around the country, which again saw angry clashes
this week.
From
their gilded bubble, top Republicans have mixed condemnations -- mostly
focused on Trump and his chief allies in the electoral college stunt,
Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri
-- with a familiar refrain: that any meaningful rebuke to this
horrifying display would only serve to "politicize" it and "further
divide" the country. Plans to impeach Trump again and even Twitter's
deplatforming of the President should, many Republicans said, be viewed
as political gambits rather than rational, overdue measures to combat a
vicious assault on democracy.
But
those who would deny the scope of the threat were stripped of their fig
leaves -- or delusions -- on Wednesday, setting off an enervating race
to January 20, when Pence --- but not Trump --- will attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
Republicans haven't strayed too far from Trump
But
if Pence, in his bid to keep Trump onside until then, is counting on an
outpouring of support from his old colleagues on Capitol Hill, he will
be disappointed. Shortly before CNN reported the vice president is
keeping the 25th Amendment on the table, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady rejected
it -- along any move toward impeachment -- and suggested, ridiculously,
that doing so was no different from Trump's incitements.
"Those
calling for impeachment or invoking the 25th Amendment in response to
President Trump's rhetoric this week are themselves engaging in
intemperate and inflammatory language," Brady tweeted, "and calling for
action that is equally irresponsible and could well incite further
violence."
Meanwhile,
Hawley, who is seeking to co-opt Trump's movement to realize his own
lofty ambitions, has spent more time bleating on Twitter about a
canceled book contract than addressing his role in Wednesday's affair.
Cruz, too, is shirking responsibility and even made the comically
implausible argument that he has, actually, been a consistent critic of
the President. Republican leadership has been mostly quiet, going
through the motions of condemning the violence while refusing to endorse
any meaningful action in response.
Read More
- How a pro-Trump mob besieged the Capitol
- Trump pressured Pence to engineer a coup, then put the VP in danger, source says
- As riot raged, Trump tried to call senators to overturn election
- 'No one knew what we were supposed to be doing there': Inside the law enforcement chaos
- LIST: Members calling for impeachment or the 25th Amendment to be invoked
The
party's grassroots have shown little inclination to make a clean break
from Trump. On Friday, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna
McDaniel, a Trump loyalist who been careful not to make a full break
from the President, was reelected to her post despite the GOP having
lost control of the House in 2018, the White House in 2020 and the
Senate in 2021.
Even
retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, who was critical
of the effort to upend the Electoral College count and told Fox News on
Saturday that Trump has "committed impeachable offenses," balked at pressing forward with the process.
"I
don't know whether logistically it's actually really even possible or
practical and I'm not sure it's desirable to attempt to force him out,
what a day or two or three prior to the day on which he's going to be
finished anyway," Toomey said. "So I'm not clear that's the best path
forward."
The
refusal of congressional Republicans' to entertain any meaningful
conversation over what comes next has put the onus on Democrats to chart
the path forward. But they have their own political weights to balance.
Biden
has shown little enthusiasm for impeachment, knowing that a Senate
trial would suck the oxygen out of his first days in office and give
Republicans a high-profile forum to argue that his calls for unity and
pledge to cool partisan passions were campaign trail lip service.
"I'm
focused on the virus, the vaccine and economic growth," Biden said when
asked about impeachment on Friday. "What the Congress decides to do is
for them to decide. But I'm going to have to, and they're going to have
to be ready to hit the ground running."
Preparing for what's coming
The
political calculations now consuming both parties' brass are playing
out against the backdrop of more imminent threats. Security concerns
ahead of Biden's January 20 inaugural are growing. Chatter on
right-wing, pro-Trump social media forums has turned increasingly
virulent -- and it is unclear whether the President, even if he so
chose, could rein it in.
John
Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the University of Toronto's
Citizen Lab, told CNN that his group is seeing evidence that the
inauguration could become another flashpoint.
"While
the broader public was aghast at what happened (Wednesday) at the
Capitol, in certain corners of the sort of right wing conversation, what
happened," he said, "is viewed as a success."
After
the failure to protect the Capitol last week, there is new concern on
the part of some Democrats that the safety of Biden and Vice
President-elect Kamala Harris could be compromised. Even a brief survey
of the better known right-wing, pro-Trump online hubs makes clear the
severity of the threat -- one that has, for too long, been waved off as
anonymous bluster.
Worries
over future violence extend beyond the Capitol and its immediate
surroundings. American and United Airlines, with the support of two
flight attendants' unions, have taken steps to beef up security in the
air and on the ground. Both carriers have increased staffing at DC-area
airports, which will also see deployments of Capitol Police ahead of
Inauguration Day, and American has put a stop on alcohol service on
flights into and out of the region.
Members
of Congress will be provided with increased security -- in a
coordinated effort by the Capitol Police, the Sergeant at Arms' office
and the US Marshals Service -- while traveling through airports after
several senators, including South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham --
who broke with the President last week -- were harassed by other
travelers.
On
the Hill, Democratic lawmakers are beginning to consider their options,
understanding that, but for the insurrectionists' brutish bumbling and
the actions of some in the rank-and-file of the Capitol police force,
the toll could have been much worse. Some have begun to plant the seeds
for a root-and-branch review of security at the Capitol, examining not
only logistics but the makeup of the personnel entrusted to protect
them.
New
York Rep. Jamaal Bowman is drafting legislation that would form a
commission to investigate the Capitol Police, which has in some cases
been accused of either standing down too easily or even welcoming -- as
in the case of an officer who appeared to pose for a selfie with an
insurrectionist -- the mob into the building on Wednesday.
"Why
was a fascist, white supremacist mob able to overwhelm Capitol Police?
Do ties exist between the white supremacists who launched that attack
and members of the police force?," Bowman tweeted. "We need answers."
House
Appropriations Committee member Rep. Grace Meng, also of New York,
publicly backed the legislation and Democratic committee leadership,
noting its role in funding the force, said in a statement that "the
breach of the Capitol raises serious questions about what law
enforcement did and what they should have done differently."
The
Democrats also praised the bravery of some officers, including Brian
Sicknick, who died, according to officials, "due to injuries sustained
while on duty."
The
US Attorney's office is planning a federal murder investigation in
connection to his death, a law enforcement source told CNN on Friday.
Trump has not personally commented on his death.
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