Look what’s coming:
Some of the organizers of the Jan. 6 Trump rally that led to the deadly storming of the Capitol are planning another series of events across the country, along with a recruiting effort to attract 2022 primary challengers against Republicans who they say “betrayed” former President Donald Trump.
Posting on the online platform Subtack, Stockton, a longtime associate of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, released a schedule from February to May that looks to target multiple Republicans in their home states, including Reps. Liz Cheney, Tom Rice, and Adam Kinzinger. The page says that specific dates and events will be added soon.
“To date we’ve identified 13 unlucky Republicans up for reelection in 2022 who MUST BE DEFEATED,” the page reads. “We will be visiting each of their districts to recruit and vet primary challengers in the coming months.”
Trump is reportedly getting ready to go out on the road and crank up the rally machine. And he has a specific plan in mind:
[T]he time is not yet ripe for the former president to make the kind of public return he has in mind, which, based on intel coming out of Trumpworld, may involve hitting the road for a “campaign revenge tour” against Republican defectors.
A source identified as “one of the Republicans who remains tight with Trump” told Business Insider that they speculate the former president “wants to get out a roulette wheel with all their faces on it,” referring to GOP lawmakers who voted in support of Trump’s removal from office. According to Trump insiders, his vindictive road trip is expected to target the ten House Republicans who voted for his impeachment last month; he has also been keeping a watchful eye on any GOP senators who break with him.
I would have thought that people would start to get sick of his schtick, but since the GOP is now officially a cult and he is the leader, I’m not sure it will. And from the looks of it, a large majority of Republican officials are full-fledged members. As the secret ballot in the House vote to depose Liz Cheney from her leadership role showed, there are plenty who would like to leave the cult but they just can’t make that move publicly. And there are quite a few who are true believers. I think Lindsey Graham might actually be one of them now.
The Red Hats have not been vanquished.