Now the group of 45 members is increasingly divided into two camps of freshmen. There are members who have flipped suburban rocking chairs and rejected Trump’s false allegations of voter fraud – a group that includes single mothers and Cuban and Korean immigrants. And then there are representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who won deep red districts where loyalty to the president is paramount and conspiracy theories are commonplace.
The freshman class warring factions reflect the broader divide in the GOP, where there is a growing gap between a Trump-loving base and the moderate wing that can help make Republicans a majority party in 2022.
And some freshmen were more articulate than others. A standout is Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who reclaimed a GOP seat in Lowcountry and has emerged as Trump’s most outspoken critic and the “QAnon wing” in her class.
Mace has denounced a number of Republicans for their possible role in inciting the violent mob on Jan. 6, calling on them to investigate and other possible repercussions such as disapproval – which would be caustic punishment against a colleague.
“It is very important that we hold everyone accountable, and I hope that people are investigated in the broadest sense of the law – starting with the president. Including members of Congress, ”said Mace, noting that“ all options ”should be on the table. “We have allowed QAnon’s conspiracy theorists to lead us.”
However, Mace said she is not worried about a possible backlash for criticizing her new colleagues: “I’m not operating for fear.”
But she is also not blind to the risks facing the physical safety of her and her family. Mace said she applied for a concealed carry permit and sent her children home from DC shortly after receiving threats for the pledge to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Meijer, meanwhile, said he is now investing in body armor after joining just nine other Republicans to vote for impeachment. He has also suggested that fears of personal security influenced some of his colleagues to support Trump’s challenges to the election results.
“For many of us, especially those who decided to vote for impeachment, this was one of the worst weeks of our lives, one of the hardest votes we’ve ever had to take,” Meijer said on MSNBC. “I spoke to a number of colleagues, I just felt physically nauseous.”
Much to the frustration of some GOP lawmakers, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy advised some of the freshmen on which states to object and even warned of potential primary challenges if they didn’t, POLITICO first reported.
And in the hours following the January 6 riots, as Congress began to resume the election certification process, some freshmen were still torn about how to vote and sought the advice of senior lawmakers, according to sources familiar with the talks.
But in the end, the majority of the new House Republicans objected to the results, along with more than 120 GOP lawmakers. A number of freshmen even led charges against Biden’s victory and spoke out on the House floor, including Boebert, Greene, and freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn (RN.C.).
The big differences in style and content have led to some clashes between the freshmen. At a GOP conference call on Monday, Mace and others criticized Boebert for suggesting that Capitol Police agents were involved in the riot and for tweeting live about the speaker’s whereabouts during the siege. Boebert replied that it was not her intention and asked her colleagues not to accuse her of anything.
And the next day, Axios reported that Mace Greene hit a private texting chain between all the new GOP members, calling her the “literal QAnon lady.” Greene’s office said different views are to be expected in such a large class, but said the congressman was particularly concerned about the invasion of privacy.
Greene responded to Axios with a similar sentiment: “Who is the freshman salesman who betrays everyone’s trust and leaks our group chat to the press?”
McCarthy has tried to maintain unity in his ranks by repeatedly warning members not to attack each other because of their views on the matter.
“I want everyone to understand: the emotions are high,” McCarthy said during a GOP conference call this week, according to a source familiar with the conversation. ‘What you say is important. Let’s not endanger other people. Let’s see what words we use and certainly not the names of other members in any media. “
Amid the riot and impeachment, few incoming freshmen classes have experienced the first few weeks as chaotic in the office. And the political implications of their votes will reverberate in the coming months: House Democratic’s campaign arm is seizing all of their impeachment and voting certification votes to use like a bat in 2022.
GOP recruiters crowed about the rising stars who ousted Democrats in November, a diverse crop of candidates they hoped would improve the party’s image in America’s suburbs and dominate the spotlight. There is Representative Young Kim, one of the first Korean-American women in Congress; Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, whose family fled communist Cuba; and Mace, the first woman to graduate from The Citadel Military College.
But the sheer number of retirements by older Trump-era high street Republicans means the party has also seen an infusion of new representatives from safe, red chairs. The most notable are Greene and Boebert, both of them suggested before winning the election that they believed in aspects of the far-right QAnon movement.
Many of those new members have shown a willingness to imitate the president’s rash and often offensive style. Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) Had to apologize during her first week in office for praising Hitler in a speech to Trump supporters. Meanwhile, Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.) Released his personal Twitter account after complaining that there were ‘more arrests on Jan. 6 for stealing a podium’ than for ‘stealing an election on Nov. 3. Then there is Cawthorn, who urged a crowd to “slightly threaten” their members of Congress if they wanted to motivate their votes and actions.
The coronavirus – and how to take it seriously – has also broken the new GOP class. Freshman Representative Bob Good (R-Va.), A hardline conservative who got libertarian-leaning Denver Riggleman in a primary ouster, faced a backlash for calling Covid “ a fake pandemic ” in a December speech in downtown Washington , DC
And Greene has sometimes refused to wear a mask, arguing that it is “my body, my choice.”
To which Mace shot back in a subtle all of its own: “My body. My choice. And I choose to wear a mask. ”
Daniel Lippman contributed to this report.