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Following Donald Trump’s election defeat and departure from the White House, the Republican party has since faced an internal crisis, especially after the January 6 insurrection. With congressional Republicans having been spotted meeting with the former president, Florida Senator Rick Scott is the next Republican to meet with Trump.
Trump is set to meet with Scott this week at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in the state. People familiar with the matter revealed that the meeting between the former president and the Florida lawmaker has already been planned for weeks.
However, their meeting also comes at a time when the Republican party is facing an internal crisis with several GOP lawmakers either speaking out against or becoming more in lockstep with Trump. It also comes in the wake of Trump’s push to have his supporters donate to his PAC instead of the national Republican committees.
The former president is still a strong influence among House Republicans, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Congressman Steve Scalise having met with Trump already. The same could be said for most House Republicans except for a few like number three House Republican Liz Cheney.
But despite Trump’s influence among the House GOP, the former president’s influence over GOP Senators is not as prominent. Both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and John Thune have now spoken out against the former president, with McConnell putting Trump on blast shortly after the impeachment trials in the upper chamber. Trump was acquitted by the Senate for a second time over his involvement in the Capitol insurrection last January 6 as Democrats failed to reach the vote threshold needed to convict.
The rift between Trump and the Republican party also deepened in recent days as the former president’s lawyers sent cease and desist letters to the RNC, the NRSC, and the NRCC over using his name and likeness in fundraising campaigns. However, the RNC was quick to push back against the demand to stop using Trump’s name in fundraisers.
RNC Chief counsel Justin Riemer responded to the cease and desist letter to the committee. Riemer stated that the RNC “has every right to refer to public figures when it engages in core First Amendment-protected political speech, and it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”
