Republicans who once scorned Trump rally to save his presidency – By Chris Megerian and Noah Bierman (Los Angeles Times) / Feb 1 2020
WASHINGTON — A decade ago, Donald Trump was a registered Democrat. When he joined the presidential race as a Republican in 2015, party leaders scorned him as a gatecrasher and sought to stop his rise.
© Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA/TNS U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) discusses the Senate impeachment trial at a press conference on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
The same Republican establishment now has rescued Trump’s presidency.
After a vote Friday that blocked new witnesses, the Republican-controlled Senate is all but certain to acquit him on Wednesday, formally ending the nation’s third and shortest presidential impeachment trial. That will let Trump remain in office and become the first impeached president to run for reelection.
The acquittal will not only cement Trump’s reputation for surviving an onslaught of political perils. It also highlights how the former political neophyte has come to utterly dominate the GOP, with Republican lawmakers bowed by his overwhelming popularity with the party’s base.
© Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA/TNS U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) walks toward the Senate impeachment trial on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 in Washington, D.C.
“He has taken over the party in very short order,” said Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster. “It was almost immediate after he won the election. He’s a force of nature among Republicans.”
If the Senate threw Trump overboard, “there might be a revolt” from Republican voters, he said.
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