Congress Tweets Donald Trump’s Election
On my commute home from work the night after the election, I lingered by Union Square to witness the thousands of protesters readying to march to Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan. People of all ages, color, and nationality gathered in what at times seemed like a form of group therapy, with alternating pockets of the crowd taking turns expressing each of their various stages of grief.
On the other side of the political spectrum, the unexpected triumph of Donald Trump manifested itself much differently. On Twitter, dozens of House Republicans lined up to congratulate Trump on his victory.
While perhaps to be expected, it also represented a stark change from the previous behavior of Republican representatives who spent most of the campaign avoiding Trump altogether and attacking Hillary Clinton instead. In fact, more House Republicans tweeted about Trump in the 48 hours following the election than had in the previous 3+ months since he was nominated.
Given that Congressional Republicans overwhelmingly chose to contain any moral outrage they may have held towards their nominee throughout the campaign, what might now need to transpire for Republicans to stand up to Trump? Certainly, now that Trump’s message has won an election, one would imagine that opposing him would carry substantial political risk and would require even more intestinal fortitude. Furthermore, with control of the Presidency and both House and Senate, the pressure to toe the party line towards achieving legislative goals and retaining the Presidency will be immense. If you want a small sign of that pressure, here’s one: Rep. Martha Roby from Alabama, one of the few Republicans who vowed not to vote for Trump just last month, was also the first House Republican to congratulate the president-elect in the wee hours of Wednesday morning.
The reality is that Donald Trump is a president-elect more authoritarian in rhetoric (if not also nature) than any in modern history. He has advocated violence against protesters, threatened news organizations and reporters, advocated jailing his political enemies, and proposed restricting immigration solely on the basis of religion. Given such threats, it is of vital importance to our democracy that Congress serve as a check on his office. It will be up to Congress, and key Republicans who openly opposed Trump during the campaign in particular, to fulfill their constitutional duty and not merely serve as enablers.
To explore further what Congress has been tweeting during the Presidential campaign, check out https://yungster.github.io/congress-tweets/.
