WASHINGTON — There’s new fencing around the U.S. Capitol as Washington, D.C. braces for another pro-Trump rally this weekend.
The former president released a statement Thursday defending the Jan. 6 rioters, with no objection coming from prominent Republicans. (“Our hearts and minds are with the people being persecuted so unfairly,” Trump said.)
The GOP nominee in Virginia’s gubernatorial race didn’t really distance himself from Trump in last night’s debate — in a state Trump lost by 10 points in 2020.
And then later last night, one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump — Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-Ohio — announced he won’t seek re-election next year.
That’s the situation, in D.C. and inside the GOP, eight months after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and since Trump’s second impeachment.
Trump is still winning the fight for the Republican Party’s heart and soul after his presidential defeat a year ago.
The former president’s hold over the GOP even extends to next year’s Senate races, where Trump continues to inject himself into the key contests of Georgia, Arizona and now New Hampshire.
And how Trump continues to win is that he outlasts his opposition.
Or makes life so miserable for opponents that they eventually give in — or give up.
“Politically the environment is so toxic, especially in our own party right now,” Rep. Gonzalez told the New York Times about his decision not to seek re-election. “You can fight your butt off and win this thing, but are you really going to be happy? And the answer is, probably not.”
More Gonzalez: “This is the direction that we’re going to go in for the next two years and potentially four, and it’s going to make Trump the center of fund-raising efforts and political outreach,” he said. “That’s not something I’m going to be part of.”
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Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
$55 million: How much Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has banked away for his upcoming election, as his rivals still mount long-shot primary challenges against him.
3 percentage points: The increase in childhood obesity over the last year, per a new CDC study.
More than 9,000: The number of migrants who are being held at a temporary camp under a bridge in south Texas after a quick influx of arrivals.
41,848,197: The number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 176,048 more since yesterday morning.)
674,124: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News. (That’s 3,509 more since yesterday morning.)
383,038,403: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S., per the CDC. (That’s 743,608 more since yesterday morning.)
54.2 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per the CDC.
