Never-Trump RINOs and former Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyoming) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) got a dose of bad news ahead of the 2024 election, as the former president is cruising towards the GOP nomination and calls for President Joe Biden to step aside after a dismal debate performance on Thursday grow louder.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) said he thinks the former lawmakers aren’t “changing hearts and minds” regarding Trump. “I don’t know that they’re changing anybody’s minds,” Cox said on a Friday episode of Politico’s “Playbook Deep Dive” podcast. “I don’t think they’re changing hearts and minds at all.” The Utah Republican said he thinks Kinzinger and Cheney have “lumped everybody who supports Trump into being just like Trump,” rather than attempting “to understand them.”
Kinzinger and Cheney were two of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. They also were members of the House Jan. 6 committee, The Hill noted. As for Cox, he said he did not “consider” himself a “MAGA Republican,” but he also said he wants Trump “to succeed.”
“I always try to point out that I’m not anti-Trump,” Cox said. “I have serious issues with some of the things he’s done, I love some of the other things he’s done.” Kinzinger, meanwhile, further burnished his ‘pretend Republican’ credentials; he has endorsed President Biden for his reelection bid but insisted that Democrats must find the “best candidate to defend democracy” after the president’s unsteady performance in Thursday’s presidential debate.
“I’m not gonna go there, because that’s gonna be a messy process,” Kinzinger said when asked by CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer if he believes “it would be a good idea” for Biden to step away from the top of the Democratic ticket. “Democrats have to figure out how to put up the best candidate — and that may be Joe Biden — but how to put up the best candidate to defend democracy, because the risk in November is not a joke,” Kinzinger said.
Biden is planning to retreat with close family members to discuss his reelection path after a poor debate performance on Thursday night against former President Donald Trump. NBC News reports that Biden will meet with his family at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland following a debate that left many fellow Democrats concerned about his ability to defeat Trump in the fall, per five sources.
The outlet mentioned that the trip had been planned prior to the debate. The president and First Lady Jill Biden joined their children and grandchildren late on Saturday. “So far, the party’s top leaders have offered public support for Biden, including in tweets posted by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Senior congressional Democrats, including Reps. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and Nancy Pelosi of California, have privately expressed concerns about his viability, said two sources apprised of those discussions, even as they all publicly back the president,” NBC reported.
NBC added: “One Democratic House member who believes Biden should drop out of the race — but has yet to call for that publicly — told NBC News that three colleagues expressed the same sentiment to him during votes on the House floor Friday.” House Democratic leaders are publicly supporting the president, but privately, they are expressing doubts about his chances against Trump.
NBC noted further:
At the same time, there is an understanding among top Democrats that Biden should be given space to determine next steps. They believe only the president, in consultation with his family, can decide whether to move forward or to end his campaign early — and that he won’t respond well to being pushed.
“The decision-makers are two people — it’s the president and his wife,” said one source familiar with the situation, NBC reported. The source noted further: “Anyone who doesn’t understand how deeply personal and familial this decision will be isn’t knowledgeable about the situation.” One source told NBC that the only person who has any sway at all with the president his the first lady. “The only person who has ultimate influence with him is the first lady,” that person told NBC. “If she decides there should be a change of course, there will be a change of course.”
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.