London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Jun 01, 2025

The 20 Republicans holding the speakership hostage are employing Trumpian tactics while blatantly ignoring Trump's advice, extremism expert says

The 20 Republicans holding the speakership hostage are employing Trumpian tactics while blatantly ignoring Trump's advice, extremism expert says

Far-right lawmakers have taken a page from Trump's playbook: Politics as performance and performance over principle, expert Eric K. Ward said.

A sect of far-right Republicans have taken the new Congress by storm, repeatedly stonewalling Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bids for House speaker in a dramatic display of power and pandemonium seemingly straight from the playbook of a not-too-distant president.

"I think we as a public are beginning to witness what Trumpism looks like without Donald Trump," Eric K. Ward, senior advisor to the Western States Center and an expert on extremism, told Insider.

Twenty Trump-loving lawmakers are essentially holding the Republican leadership position hostage even as McCarthy kowtows to their demands following his now ten failed attempts to secure the speakership.

But these representatives' similarities to the former president go beyond their political identities — nearly all of the holdouts are members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, which has long been a thorn in the side of the larger conference and frequently came to Trump's defense while he was in office.

Coalescing behind a new candidate each day — Rep. Matt Gaetz seemingly jokingly voted for Trump during the seventh ballot on Thursday — and refusing to back McCarthy even after he conceded to many of their original demands are examples of the Trumpian approach: Politics as performance and performance over principle, Ward said.

"The influential part of these 20 votes don't care whether they control the House speakership or not," he told Insider.

What they're really after, Ward argued, is the "destruction" of American democracy. 

Ward warned that the in-fighting over the speakership position is likely to be just the first step in the Republican party's effort to "create a swirl of chaos, inertia, and stagnation" to wear down the American public, continue to pit the country against one another, and keep the masses distracted.

The latest vote comes just one day before the two-year anniversary of the deadly January 6 attack in which a mob of Trump supporters laid siege to the US Capitol in an effort to overturn the 2020 election results. The House committee investigating the insurrection argued in its final report released last month that Trump and other Republican lawmakers essentially aided and abetted the rioters by propagating lies and conspiracy theories about the election.


Former President Donald Trump

"It should not go without notice that the last time they attempted to destroy American democracy from outside the Capitol and [two] years later it appears to be taking place from inside the Capitol," Ward said. 

While Trump's legacy lives on in the twenty lawmakers' tactics, his power among the group has diminished in the months since he left office. He no longer holds the sway over this sect of lawmakers that he once did, evidenced by his failed efforts to rally the troops behind McCarthy this week, Ward said.

The former president issued a last-minute plea on Wednesday morning, urging Republicans to set aside their differences and make McCarthy speaker. But his Truth Social request failed to make a difference: McCarthy has lost an additional six votes in the aftermath of Trump's post. 

Trump switched his approach on Thursday, this time suggesting that McCarthy's repeated failures are actually a "Republican victory" that will cement the eventual speaker as "bigger and more important" than if someone had been chosen "the more traditional way."

But as the House commenced its 10th fruitless vote in three days, there was little indication that a final decision was imminent.

Ward warned that this chaos will be just the beginning should the 20 Republicans ultimately get their way.

"If they receive one more concession, the lesson they will have sent is that a small group of bullies can shut down Congress if they're not getting their way and their way is exclusion," he told Insider.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hegseth Warns of Potential Chinese Military Action Against Taiwan
OPEC+ Agrees to Increase Oil Output for Third Consecutive Month
Jamie Dimon Warns U.S. Bond Market Faces Pressure from Rising Debt
Turkey Detains Istanbul Officials Amid Anti-Corruption Crackdown
Taylor Swift Gains Ownership of Her First Six Albums
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
×