The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution yesterday condemning President Trump’s Tweets targeting four female Democratic members of Congress, known collectively as #TheSquad. While the vote was generally along party lines, the message sent, despite a Republican rebuke over the term “racist”, showed what can happen if you stand up to bullies.
By taking a stand against @realDonaldTrump, and his deplorable series of Tweets that told these women, who oppose his hateful immigration policies, to “go back” to your country, they have shown how he can be taken on at a time when so many have backed down.
It's a fact. When you stand up to bullies, you expose their weaknesses. The more people who stand up, the weaker the bully becomes. There is strength in numbers.
So, why won’t more Republicans stand up to Trump?
The answer lies in Trump’s approval ratings among Republicans. It stands at a seemingly insurmountable 90 percent! Amazingly, this number increased AFTER his offensive Tweets.
In the past, Trump has derided polls that do not support him. As yesterday's blog, and Monday's, pointed out, he knew exactly what he was doing -- feeding red meat to his incredibly loyal supporters.
Indeed, his overall approval ratings have never been over the mid-forties. But, it is his standing among Republicans and the fortunately healthy (for some) economy that continues to keep a majority of Republicans in line.
Could we be witnessing a crack in Republican support. In voting for the House resolution condemning his recent Tweets, four Republicans, and one former Republican, Michigan’s Justin Amash, now an independent, voted in favor.
Could this be the opening many have hoped for? Given the aforementioned approval ratings among Republicans, this is doubtful. Instead, you see most Republicans trying to deflect from his Tweets by pointing to comments made by “the Squad,” all Congresswomen of color.
But shouldn’t the person in the Oval Office be held to a higher standard? Not according to his defenders. They equate comments made by some Squad members as being the same, if not worse than Trump’s Tweets, and so they argue that his comments are justified.
Fortunately, these Congresswomen aren’t backing down. When Trump Tweeted that he “ doesn’t have a racist bone in his body“, @AOC Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shot back telling Trump (you have) “a racist mind in your head , and a racist heart in your chest.”
This is entirely new territory for Trump. Instead of backtracking and cowering like so many of the subjects of his Tweets have done, "the Squad" is fighting back. This puts Trump in the unique, and awkward, position of playing defense.
Could this be the way to defeat Trump in 2020? Perhaps. Maybe if more people stood up to him, they would expose his weaknesses.