'Wrong direction': Trump’s revenge obsession alarms GOP senators

10 June 2024

Presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has famously told his voters, "I am your retribution." And that revenge theme has only become more prominent since a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 criminal counts in his hush money/falsified business records trial.

Trump recently told television host Dr. Phil McGraw, "Well, revenge does take time, I will say that. And sometimes, revenge can be justified, Phil. I have to be honest: Sometimes, it can,”

But some GOP senators, according to The Hill's Alexander Bolton, are worried that Trump's obsession with "retribution" can only hurt their party politically.

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) told The Hill, "This is not the direction we want this country to go. I think it's time for adults to take over with regard to the Senate, and it's time for adults to take over in regards (to) how we treat the judicial climate in this country. I don't want to see a tit for tat on prosecution."

Rounds continued, "I think that's the wrong direction. I think that's the wrong path for us to go down. I think we've got to get back to what the Founding Fathers wanted in the first place, which is a judiciary which is not full of political appointees that are hard far left or hard far right."

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) disagrees with Republicans who are calling for Congress to defund the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), telling The Hill, "I don't think that's a feasible or constructive approach."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) noted that Trump will be able to appeal the Manhattan jury's verdict, telling The Hill, "From what we were able to see of it, the process that was taken was one that people would look at and say that’s how you handle a jury trial."

Trump's fixation on "retribution" is also the focus of an hour-long "This American Life" segment aired by some National Public Radio (NPR) stations on June 9.

"This American Life" interviewed three people who MAGA Republicans are furious with: Stephanie Grisham (Trump's former White House press secretary), Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (who testified against Trump during his first impeachment) and The Lincoln Project's Fred Wellman. The program also airs in Canada on CBC Radio One.

All of those interviewees explained why they are worried about being targeted for revenge if Trump defeats President Joe Biden in November.

Wellman, a Never Trump conservative, said that he now keeps a gun for protection after being threatened, stalked and harassed by Trump supporters. Wellman told "This American Life" that he has looked into the possibility of moving to another country for his own safety if Trump wins.

Vindman's wife Rachel told "This American Life" that, for safety reasons, she has been urging her husband to consider leaving the United States if Trump defeats Biden. But Lt. Col. Vindman said he is determined to stay in the U.S. regardless, although the Kyiv native has said that the fear of Trump's allies looking for possible ways to revoke his U.S. citizenship has crossed his mind.

Read The Hill's full article at this link and listen to the "This American Life" broadcast here.

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