21 GOP Senators Privately Expressing ‘Extreme Contempt’ for Trump Get Outed by Carl Bernstein, Who Names Names
While only a few GOP senators have ever publicly crossed him to any meaningful degree, 21 members of the caucus have been outed as having “extreme contempt” for President Donald Trump behind-the-scenes.
In a Sunday night Twitter thread, legendary journalist Carl Bernstein named names — reporting that 21 Republicans in the Senate have “repeatedly” made known their disdain for the president. Some of the 21, such as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) hardly rate as a shock — given their willingness to criticize Trump openly. Others such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) are somewhat more surprising, but have offered hints of what Bernstein reports to be their true feelings. A few, though, do rank among the president’s top shills on Capitol Hill — including Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and outgoing Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ).
The rest of the 21 are; Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN), Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Sen. Todd Young (R-IN).
I’m not violating any pledge of journalistic confidentially in reporting this: 21 Republican Sens–in convos w/ colleagues, staff members, lobbyists, W. House aides–have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS. (1/3)
— Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
The 21 GOP Senators who have privately expressed their disdain for Trump are: Portman, Alexander, Sasse, Blunt, Collins, Murkowski, Cornyn, Thune, Romney, Braun, Young, Tim Scott, Rick Scott, Rubio, Grassley, Burr, Toomey, McSally, Moran, Roberts, Shelby. (2/3)
— Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
Bernstein, in his Twitter thread, was fleshing out some reporting he’d initially broached Friday on CNN. During an appearance on New Day, the venerable reporter criticized those Republican senators who know better about Trump but are keeping quiet.
“Many, if not most, of these individuals — from what I have been told — were happy to see Donald Trump defeated in this election, as long as the Senate could be controlled by the Republicans,” Bernstein said. “They’ve experienced Donald Trump and his dishonestly, and his pathological lying. And they know what Donald Trump has done to undermine the confidence in our institutions in this country. They’ve lived through the pandemic while his homicidal negligence is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. They know what’s going on.”
Watch above, via CNN.
UPDATE 11:28 a.m. ET — One of the senators named by Bernstein is denying the report. In a statement provided to Mediaite, Sen. Mike Braun insists that he is firmly in the president’s corner.
“This is more false news from a CNN political analyst, as I was one of President Trump’s top defenders during impeachment and strongly support his legal efforts to ensure that every legal vote is counted.”
