Legendary journalist Dan Rather may no longer be an anchor for CBS News, but his political observations have often gone viral in the era of President Donald Trump.
With multiple pro-Trump Republicans distancing themselves from the President to prepare for a loss of the White House in 2020, Rather offered his two cents to those comparing Republicans to rats fleeing a sinking ship.
In a Saturday tweet, Rather said the comparison wasn't fair...to rats.
It's tempting to use the analogy of rats fleeing a sinking ship to describe the growing number of Republican elected officials starting to speak out against Donald Trump. But that's really not fair to rats, who tend not to be complicit in driving ships to the bottom of the sea.
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) October 17, 2020
Rather pointed out that, unlike rats on a ship, Republican lawmakers spent four years defending Trump's harmful rhetoric and unprecedented corruption, often adopting his rhetoric to curry favor with their Republican voters.
Democratic nominee Joe Biden's consistent lead over Trump in swing state and national polls has led some Republicans to distance themselves from the President they so wholeheartedly defended.
Republican Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) excoriated Trump in a tele-town hall for spending like a "drunken sailor" and "kissing dictators' butts."
Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn claims that he broke with Trump numerous times on issues like the border wall and the deficit, but that his opposition was in private.
At a recent debate, Arizona Republican Senator Martha McSally said it "pisses [her] off" to hear Trump speak ill of the late Arizona Senator John McCain (R-AZ).
But in the most consequential moments of Trump's presidency, these Senators sided with Trump, especially during his impeachment trial in the Senate earlier this year, and with the nomination of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
For that reason, people largely agreed with Rather's take on the rat comparison.
Very, *very* well said. https://t.co/adSdaTlHQm
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) October 17, 2020
Scathing! And I love it! https://t.co/fpOzLrZjmd
— Laura Webb (@lalawebb) October 17, 2020
Valid. These are Ship sinking rats who sank the ship and are now blaming the water. https://t.co/a2Jqk1Qo8n
— Titus (@TitusNation) October 17, 2020
I mean....THIS 🙌🏻 https://t.co/AvhPQbqNaR
— Alaina Urquhart (@AlainaToTheMax) October 18, 2020
Dan Rather gets it.
You have no excuse to be patting Republicans on the back. https://t.co/mva1inSrWt
— I Liv, I Die, I Live Again ★ Hill (@machineiv) October 17, 2020
Dan has put the GOP in proper perspective... https://t.co/s5jq8j1RPp
— Diana (@jstmeinmo) October 18, 2020
Twitter users lined up to praise Rather's account.
Twitter Dan Rather remains undefeated https://t.co/4H5nhDPIfV
— SELEMA MASEKELA (@selema) October 17, 2020
Catty Dan Rather is my very favorite Dan Rather if I'm honest https://t.co/8IUKmWn8B8
— Cherie Priest (@cmpriest) October 17, 2020
At this point, I think I'm in love with Dan Rather (but in a purely platonic way): https://t.co/OxJubVP2lI
— LaurenBaratzLogsted (@LaurenBaratzL) October 19, 2020
The election determining whether or not Republicans will retain their Senate majority happens on November third, but early voting is already underway in a number of states.
