Mississippi Senator and NRSC Chair Roger Wicker is telling vulnerable Senate incumbents to stay away from the Republican National Convention. Wicker says he’s instead “advising candidates to be present for more unifying events.” Apparently Wicker has accepted that the RNC will inevitably devolve into divisive, Trump-dominated chaos. And Senators like John McCain, Mark Kirk, Kelly Ayotte, and Richard Burr are jumping at the opportunity to distance themselves — if only geographically — from Trump, and plan on skipping Cleveland.
But House Speaker Ryan knows the truth: the GOP built Trump (and Ted Cruz for that matter), divisive rhetoric and threat of electoral damage and all — and the party will have to embrace its nominee. So when CNN asked Ryan about the trend of Senators skipping the convention, he laid down the party line: “I think we should go. This is our convention, making our nominee — so I think everyone should participate.“
Wicker can tell Burr, McCain, Ayotte, and the rest of the #EventuallyTrump gang to run from the Donald all he wants, but the truth is that their records and their rhetoric means that they’re no matter what inextricably tied to an extremist that nobody likes. Or Ted Cruz.
Published: Apr 20, 2016