The seven Republican senators who have joined all 50 Democrats to convict former President Donald Trump for instigating the January 6 riot at the Capitol are now facing heat from conservatives in their home state.
Party leaders and local GOP officials, many of whom want to gain favor with the broad group of conservative voters still loyal to Trump, have condemned the 7 lawmakers for breaking ranks with the rest of the party.
The criticisms illustrate Trump’s strong hold on Republicans nationally despite his loss in November and his subsequent refusal to admit defeat.
Polls following the attack on Congress last month still show that Trump has a sky-high approval rating among Republicans and that about half of the GOP is primarily loyal to the ex-president himself, rather than the party.
The Senate finally acquitted Trump in a 57-43 vote on Saturday after an unprecedented second impeachment trial.
While Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, was the only member of the GOP to vote against Trump after his first trial, this time he was joined by six others: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania.
Some senators, including Cassidy, have already been hit by official reprimands from their state party, while many of the others have faced criticism from local conservatives. Cassidy was censored by the Louisiana GOP just hours after his vote.
Opposition to Sasse, which is also expected to face formal censure, was directly mentioned by one of Trump’s defensive Senate floor attorneys.
“There seem to be some pretty smart lawyers in Nebraska, and I can’t believe the United States senator doesn’t know that,” said Bruce Castor Jr. during a sometimes confusing speech. Castor said Sasse “faces a whirlwind, even though he knows what the judiciary thinks in his state.”
Because of previous critical comments about Trump, local GOP chapters in several Nebraska counties have passed resolutions calling for Sasse’s disapproval, according to the Lincoln Journal Star. A GOP state meeting to formally condemn the senator was postponed due to weather, the paper reported.
Burr, a senior Republican whose vote to condemn Trump came as a surprise to most observers, also drew fire from home state conservatives.
“The North Carolina Republicans have sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to condemn in a trial he has declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing,” said the Republican chairman. State Party, Michael Whatley, in a statement.
Burr is not seeking re-election to the Senate for a fourth term. Mark Walker, a Republican who wants to succeed him in 2022, wrote in a post on Twitter shortly after Saturday’s vote, “Wrong vote, Senator Burr,” in addition to a fundraising message.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Toomey could also face “possible backlash at home.” The paper reported that in response to Toomey’s vote, Lawrence Tabas, the state’s GOP chairman, said he shared the “disappointment of many of our grassroots leaders and volunteers”.
In general, the resistance is unlikely to do electoral damage in the short term. Six of the seven Republicans will not be reelected next year, in the 2022 cycle. Only Murkowski, who has been in the Senate since 2002, faces an impending re-election battle.
Some have speculated that the impeachment vote in Alaska may provide an incentive for former Governor Sarah Palin to compete in the race in a primary. Palin herself has sparked rumors that she would be competing in the race.
Each of the seven Republicans who voted to condemn Trump has defended their decision to do so in statements and in social media posts. In a video posted online ahead of the vote, Sasse reiterated his warnings about Republican loyalty to Trump, saying that “politics is not about one guy’s weird worship.”
Toomey acknowledged in a series of posts on Twitter that Trump’s lawyers made “several accurate comments” during their arguments. However, he said, “As a result of President Trump’s actions, the transfer of presidential power for the first time in US history was not peaceful.”
“His treachery of the constitution and his oath of office required conviction,” Toomey wrote, defending his decision.
Cassidy said in an interview on ABC News on Sunday that he was “trying to hold President Trump accountable” and that Cassidy was “very confident that people will move to that position as time goes on.”
“The Republican Party is more than one person. The Republican Party is about ideas,” he said.
CNBC has contacted each of the seven Republican lawmakers.
The senators’ criticism echoes previous attacks on House Republicans who voted to oust Trump in the lower house. Rep. Wyoming’s Liz Cheney was censored by Republicans in her state after her colleagues in the House unsuccessfully urged her to take her leadership role.
Some Republicans who didn’t even vote for Trump’s impeachment have been criticized for not being reverent enough towards the ex-president. Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., For example, voted for acquittal but still sharply criticized Trump’s January 6 rally, accusing him of being responsible for the violence of that day.
Senator Lindsey Graham, RS.C., denounced McConnell on Sunday for the address.
“I think Senator McConnell’s speech clearly took a pains, but unfortunately he put a burden on the Republicans,” Graham told Fox News. “You’ll see that speech in 2022 campaigns.”
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