Civil war erupts over Donald Trump’s future

The Republican split over the future role of Donald Trump has deepened with Trump ally Lindsey Graham clashing with heavyweight Mitch McConnell.

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham enter the Senate Reception Room. Picture: AFP

The split among Republicans over the future role of Donald Trump has deepened with Trump ally Lindsey Graham clashing with heavyweight Mitch McConnell.

Pro-Trump Republicans also are plotting revenge against the seven Republican senators who broke with the party to cast a guilty vote against Mr Trump in his Senate impeachment trial.

The tensions reflect growing divisions about whether Mr Trump should continue to play a dominant role in the party given his lies about the election outcome in November last year and his role in inciting the deadly Capitol riot on January 6. But polls show the former president, who received 74 million votes in the election, remains popular with Republican voters despite the controversies of recent months.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell walks through the Senate subway on his way to the fourth day of the Senates second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. Picture: AFP

Senator Graham, who was one of 43 Republicans to vote to acquit Mr Trump, said on Monday (AEDT) that “Trump-plus” was the way to go for the party. He accused Senator McConnell, the Senate minority leader, of harming the party with his attack on Mr Trump on the final day of the impeachment trial. Although Senator McConnell voted to acquit Mr Trump on the grounds the trial was illegal, he slammed the former president, saying there was “no question” he was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day”.

Senator Graham responded by saying “I think Senator McConnell’s speech, he got a load off his chest, obviously, but unfortun­ately he put a load on the back of Republicans. That speech you will see in 2022 campaigns.”

He described Senator McConnell’s views as an “outlier” in the party and suggested the veteran senator could come under political pressure because of his comments.

Senator Graham said that in a conversation with Mr Trump on Sunday (AEDT): “I said Mr President, this MAGA movement needs to continue. We need to unite the party. Trump-plus is the way back in 2022.”

The Senate on Sunday (AEDT) acquitted Mr Trump of the charge of inciting an insurrection with 57 senators voting guilty, leaving Democrats short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict.

Pro-Trump Republicans have started to pressure the seven GOP senators who voted against Mr Trump. The Louisiana Republican Party voted to censure Bill Cassidy, with state Attorney-General Jeff Landry saying Senator Cassidy had “fallen into the trap laid by Democrats to have Republicans attack Republicans”.

Senator Cassidy was unrepentant, saying Mr Trump was a waning force and more Republicans eventually would agree with him about the former president’s culpability for the Capitol riot. “The Republican Party is more than just one person. The Republican Party is about ideas,” he said.

Pennsylvania Republican chair­man Lawrence Tabas attacked Patrick Toomey’s decision to vote against Mr Trump. “The trial was an unconstitutional theft of time and energy that did absolutely nothing to unify or help the American people,” he said. “I share the disappointment of many of our grassroots leaders and volunteers over Senator Toomey’s vote today.”

North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley said the vote against Mr Trump by senator Richard Burr was “shocking and disappointing”.

Another who voted against Mr Trump, Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, launched a pre-emptive strike.

“If months of lies, organising a rally of supporters in an effort to thwart the work of congress, encouraging a crowd to march on the Capitol and then taking no meaningful action to stop the violence once it began is not worthy of impeachment, conviction and disqualification from holding office in the United States, I cannot imagine what is,’’ said the only one of the seven Republicans who faces an election next year.

Maryland’s Republican Governor Larry Hogan defended the defectors. “I think there were a lot more people who didn’t have the courage to vote that way,” he said. “There weren’t enough people willing to stand up.”

There were calls from both parties for an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the Capitol riot to ensure it was never repeated.

“There should be a complete investigation about what happened,” said Senator Cassidy. “What was known, who knew it and when they knew, all that, because that builds the basis so this never happens again.”

Democrat senator Chris Coons, a Joe Biden ally, said “There’s still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear, and a 9/11 commission is a way to make sure that we secure the Capitol going forward.

“And that we lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath President Trump really was.”