During the 2024 presidential election, plenty of prominent conservatives — from former Vice President Dick Cheney to former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele to ex-Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) — were openly critical of Donald Trump and endorsed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) was among the speakers at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and Dick Cheney’s daughter, ex-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) campaigned for her. But full-fledged Never Trumpers have long since ceased to be power brokers in the Republican Party. They aren’t being hired by the RNC, and most right-wing media outlets now shun them. Much of the GOP rallied around Trump during the 2024 race, but that doesn’t mean that there is no rivalry within the MAGA movement. READ MORE: ‘Cracks are showing’: Why ‘messy mix’ of ‘contradictions’ may sink Trump’s coalitionTwo articles published by the Daily Beast on December 27 focus on infighting among pro-Trump Republicans. Nico Hines describes “MAGA, stalwarts” who are lashing out at pro-Trump “tech bros,” and in a separate article, Janna Brancolini reports that infighting among House Republicans could get in the way of Trump’s Electoral College certification on January 6.Hines explains, “The logic-twisting alliance between Silicon Valley’s new oligarchs and the home-spun patriotism at the heart of the Republican grassroots movement is shattering before our very eyes. MAGA stalwarts like Laura Loomer and Matt Gaetz are already turning their fire on the tech bros who helped bankroll Donald Trump’s comeback bid for the White House before he is even sworn in as president for a second time. It was always going to end in tears, but few observers predicted that an all-out MAGA civil war would erupt before we even reach the New Year.”Loomer has been lashing out at Tesla/SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — a major Trump donor in 2024 — on his X platform, formerly Twitter. And former Rep. Gaetz (R-Florida) has implied that Musk now has too much influence on the MAGA movement.Hines quotes Gaetz as saying, “We welcomed the tech bros when they came running our way to avoid the 3rd grade teacher picking their kid’s gender, and the obvious Biden/Harris economic decline. We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy.”READ MORE: How one top Dem is building the ‘strongest barrier against’ TrumpMeanwhile, Brancolini reports that Trump’s inauguration could be delayed if House Republicans can’t settle on a speaker in a hurry after a new Congress is seated on January 3. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) is hoping to remain in that position in 2025, but it remains to be seen whether or not he will have enough votes from fellow Republicans.”The MAGA-verse could be on the brink of exploding into an all-encompassing constitutional crisis, with Donald Trump’s own inauguration as possible collateral,” Brancolini reports. “The incoming Congress is scheduled to start on January 3, but following a bruising pre-Christmas battle to keep the government open, Republican lawmakers — including President-elect Trump — have turned on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). Without a speaker, the House of Representatives could become paralyzed and be unable to certify Trump’s reelection victory, plunging the Capitol and the country into political chaos.”Brancolini points out that Republicans “are so divided” that some members of their party fear they “might not choose a speaker in time to count and certify the presidential election results” during a joint Senate/House session on January 6. “Lawmakers don’t need to finish the certification on that same day,” Brancolini notes, “but the process has to wrap up by noon on January 20, when the Constitution says the outgoing president’s term ends.”READ MORE: Lauren Boebert’s replacement in her old district vows to be different — but not by muchRead Nico Hines’ Daily Beast article at this link and Janna Brancolini’s reporting here (subscription required).
U.S. women’s hockey star reiterates team missed SOTU over logistical challenges
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