Former President Donald Trump may no longer be in the White House, but his beatification by the Republican party continues to hold strong.
A recent poll found that more than half of Republicans would support another Trump candidacy in 2024. Trump will be the keynote speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this weekend, where he's expected to tout his grip on the party.
Even after his lies about the 2020 election prompted a mob of pro-Trump extremists to storm the Capitol in a deadly failed insurrection, only a combined 17 Republicans in the House and Senate found him deserving of impeachment and subsequent conviction.
Those 17 Republicans have faced immense backlash from their colleagues in Congress, Republican leaders in their home states, and even from their own families for what the GOP sees as a betrayal of the former President.
Third-ranking House Republican Liz Cheney (R-WY) was censured by her party and faced a failed campaign to revoke her leadership of the House Republican conference.
This backlash isn't exclusive to members of Congress either. Cindy McCain, lifelong Republican and wife to the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, was censured by the Arizona GOP for her support of Biden in the 2020 election.
So when Congressman Jim Jordan (R-OH), one of Trump's most vocal defenders in the House of Representatives, praised Trump as the "leader of the Republican party," few disagreed.
For better or worse, Trump is regarded by Republicans themselves as the leader of the GOP.
Many saw that as an indictment of the party, rather than a testament to Trump's so-called leadership.
Many said that Trump's stranglehold on the party will lead to its future decimation in upcoming elections.
It's unclear if Trump will seek the 2024 GOP nomination, but it's readily apparent that he'll have the support of the party if he does.
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