Former GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock Dismisses Trump’s 2024 Chances: ’70-Something-Year-Old Man Is Not the Future of the Party’
Former GOP Rep. Barbara Comstock (VA) pushed back on the idea that Donald Trump represented the future of her party, calling out both his age and the erosion of his intra-party support in the wake of his role fomenting the Capitol insurrection.
Speaking with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Friday night, the two-term Congresswoman made the case for moving on from the former president, who she said deserved conviction on the lone impeachment charge of inciting the insurrection. She also condemned other pro-Trump acolytes like the formerly QAnon-supporting Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“What I focus on is, at the beginning of this week, the Freedom Caucus claimed they had 115 signatures to get rid of [House GOP Conference Chair] Liz Cheney,” Comstock noted. “In fact, she won resoundingly in a landslide with 70% support. I think the brave Republicans like Liz Cheney, like [Nebraska Sen.] Ben Sasse, like [Rep.] Adam Kinzinger standing up to the bullies, are the future of the party. I think of those 10 people who voted for impeachment you’re going to see future governors, future leaders of the party, people like Ben Sasse. I’m going to focus on the positive there. I think it was appropriate that Marjorie Greene was kicked off of her committees with bipartisan support.”
Cooper, however, pushed back on Comstock, noting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy came out and said Trump “bears responsibility” for the Capitol insurrection, but days later made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago in what was widely seen as a show of fealty to the former president.
“Well, Donald Trump lost the popular vote twice,” Comstock pointed out, then alluded to the fact that he left office with record low approval ratings. “Somebody that can get 35% of the national vote is not the future of the party. A 70 something-year-old man is not the future of our party. I want to focus on people like all of the women that I helped get elected last year. Actually, the board I worked on to elect Republican women, we opposed Marjorie Greene and supported her male opponent in the primary, but we have great women like [Rep.] Young Kim from California who voted to kick Marjorie off her committees. [Iowa Senator] Joni Ernst got re-elected.”
However, Trump’s status within the Republican Party remains fairly resilient, after a minor blip following the Capitol riot. Recent Morning Consult polls, for example, found Trump’s support among GOP voters bouncing back from Jan. 6–7, when just 59% of Republicans saying the former president should play a major or minor role in the party going forward. By Jan. 22–25, that number has risen back to 65% among Republicans.
“QAnon has no place in the Republican party or politics,” Comstock declared. “We have to take that apart lie by lie. You know, starting with the president’s election lies. I think the lesson we have learned from January 6th, which was a horror for me and so many members, you know, I worked there an intern, staffer, a counsel, and then as a member, and I think the lesson from January 6th is don’t lie, don’t attack our elections, and don’t attack our Capitol, our sacred place for our democracy. And that is why Republicans are leaving this president, and I think yes, it’s going to take a while, but stop looking at Marjorie Greenes and start looking at these brave leaders.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
