We have seen some pretty ugly primary races taking place within the GOP so far, and it has gotten the attention of Speaker Johnson.
Johnson stepped up this weekend with an actual leadership decision, which was to tell all GOP candidates to stop the mudslinging among same-party candidates and concentrate on taking down the Democrats.
Talking Points…
- Attacks getting vicious
- Johnson tells everyone to cool it
- Analysis
The same-party attacks got started in this election when Donald Trump started to go after Governor Ron DeSantis before he even announced. In fact, Trump was bragging about it during a recent rally. Trump stated:
"So I hit him hard. I hit him low. I hit him, just like we did to ISIS. We hit him hard. We hit him low. We hit him high. By the time he announced, nobody knew what happened, they said he was a shell of a man."
Donald Trump continues to attack Ron DeSantis: “So I hit him hard. I hit him low. I hit him, just like we did to ISIS. We hit him hard. We hit him low. We hit him high. By the time he announced, nobody knew what happened, they said he was a shell of a man..” pic.twitter.com/L5XynCnLgj
— Breaking News (@TheNewsTrending) March 17, 2024
Keep in mind that when Trump first entered politics, he complained about how dirty the business was, yet he turned around and did the very same thing to the man who is arguably the best conservative governor in the country. This has taken a toll on the party because other MAGA candidates have followed that example, and it has created a massive divide in the party right now.
Speaker Johnson has heard enough of Republicans attacking Republicans, giving Democrats all the ammo they need without doing any oppo research. He is now asking all candidates to chill out and focus on the issues and Democrats rather than slinging mud to win an office. He stated:
"I've asked them all to cool it. I am vehemently opposed to member-on-member action in primaries because it's not productive. And it causes division for obvious reasons, and we should not be engaging in that."
Johnson later added:
"So I'm telling everyone who's doing that to knock it off. And both sides, they'll say, 'Well, we didn't start it, they started it.'"
Johnson is right because attacking fellow Republicans does not really serve a purpose, but unfortunately, blood leads, so don't expect people to back down now. This is all about getting into that office, so nobody is actually worried about the future of the party, which means that Johnson has a tough road ahead of him if he wants party members to stop attacking each other.
It is also hard to get people to even consider the idea when the presumptive nominee for the presidential nomination continues to attack opponents he has already defeated, as many Republicans today simply follow Trump's lead. Trump continues to say he wants to unite the party, but that will never happen if he continues to throw daggers and mock DeSantis at every opportunity. Imagine how strong DeSantis could be on the campaign trail for Trump, but that will never happen now.
I have never liked the idea of attacking candidates within the same party. It would be great if we could get to a point where they only discuss issues and their plans for office instead of every ad and speech attacking their opponent. This just always seemed foolish to me because you are, in essence, doing the legwork for your Democratic opponent in the general election.
