Donald Trump — as someone who’s now been convicted of a felony — would technically be banned from entering more than 35 countries that have rules against letting in people with such records. But that didn’t stop Republican representatives and senators from welcoming Trump to Washington Thursday. The presidential candidate was there for the first time since he incited the violent Jan. 6, 2021, attack he hoped would keep him in power after he lost the 2020 election.
House Republicans presented Trump with the game ball from their victory in Wednesday night’s congressional baseball game and delivered a jovial rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Trump turned 78 Friday.
Trump — who also stands accused in federal court of having tried “to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election”— was first celebrated by House Republicans who presented Trump with the game ball from their victory in Wednesday night’s congressional baseball game and delivered a jovial rendition of “Happy Birthday.” Trump turned 78 Friday.
Later, Senate Republicans welcomed Trump with a standing ovation, with Roger Marshall of Kansas dubbing it a “magic moment” and Marco Rubio of Florida characterizing the event as “getting the team back together.” Ted Cruz of Texas was so pathetic that he continued to clap for Trump even after he’d left the room. As MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked Thursday night, “Did he think Donald Trump could see through the door?” Even though Trump put these Republican officials’ lives at risk on Jan. 6 by whipping up his supporters and directing them toward the Capitol, they are now all saluting him.
Many of these same Republicans slammed Trump immediately after Jan. 6. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina said then: “We have to hold the president accountable for what happened. The rhetoric leading up to this vote, the lies that were told to the American people — this is what happens, rhetoric has real consequences.” This year, though, Mace endorsed Trump, and Thursday, Trump praised her.
The most glaring cowardice, though, was Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s. “There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day,” he said at the conclusion of Trump’s second impeachment trial. He pointed out then that despite Trump’s aides begging him to tell his supporters to disperse, Trump “watched television happily” and “kept pressing his scheme to overturn the election.” We saw McConnell joyfully shaking hands with Trump on Thursday. “It was an entirely positive meeting,” he told reporters. Hypocritical is too weak a word to describe that change.
The hypocrisy isn’t as big an issue, though, as Republican lawmakers offering a “hero’s welcome” to a man they know tried to block the peaceful transfer of power. The four-count federal indictment against Trump states what we all know: “Despite having lost, the defendant [Trump] was determined to remain in power” and he employed “dishonesty, fraud, and deceit” to achieve his illegal goal.
Those lawmakers feted Trump knowing that, as the final report of the bipartisan House committee that investigated Jan. 6 concluded, “The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed.”








