Why Republicans Need the Big Lie
More than half of Republican voters believe Trump won the election is a sign that loyalty to Trump will be the only issue in Republican primaries. That is why most Republican politicians have embraced the Big Lie knowing that it has created a crisis for American democracy. Not wanting to let a good crisis go to waste, the GOP is using the Big Lie to raise millions, pass voter suppression, and attack election officials in an anti-democratic attempt to win back Congress.
By Jennifer Rubin
At some point, it does not matter whether GOP voters and politicians believe the “big lie” or are simply rationalizing their Dear Leader’s defeat. The result is the same: incitement of violence, undermining confidence in democracy, justification for voter suppression and a crisis of legitimacy for whoever wins. There is really only one side here that corresponds to the truth and defense of democracy: Unyielding denunciation of the “big lie” and of any efforts to subvert democracy.
Or to put it another way, the fundamental problem lies less with the crazies than with the careerists; not with the madness of Marjorie Taylor Greene, but with the spinelessness of Kevin McCarthy.
Rioters break into the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6. (John Minchillo/AP)