Category Archives: Donald Trump

But almost all of those up-and-comers have one common trait: they have embraced Trump. And for others in the party, that fealty is a sign of a party contracting, not expanding. The fear is that, as Trump lingers on the scene, aggressively intervening in internal party disputes and openly flirting with running again in 2024, it will only get more pronounced.

There is a lost generation of conservatives and I think its because theyre forced to tie themselves to Trump, one Republican operative said. There was an anti-Romney backlash, anti-Bush backlash When you lose the presidency whether an incumbent or challenger the party distances themselves and that is absolutely not the case here."

Political parties have gone through concerns about talent drains before. At the end of Barack Obamas presidency, Democrats warned that the bench of up-and-coming lawmakers he left behind was painfully thin as the party suffered tremendous setbacks in Congress and the statehouses. Trump, too, oversaw the loss of seats down-ballot. But unlike Obama, he has not receded from public view after leaving office. And his continued presence has sparked fears mainly, but not exclusively, from the GOP diaspora about the narrowing of the party.

"If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we're not going anywhere, former House Speaker Paul Ryan, who left Washington for Wisconsin two years ago, said last week on the first night of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museums "Time for Choosing" series. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle. They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago."

In a clear sign Trump was listening, the ex-president responded with a four-paragraph critique the next day. Paul Ryan has been a curse to the Republican Party, Trump said. Ryan didnt respond back.

Ryans fear about Trumps grip on the party is shared by top operatives who believe that few aspiring presidential candidates will choose to run if Trump ultimately does make a bid. So far, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the only potential 2024 contender who said he wouldnt wait around for the ex-president to make a decision first. Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has flatly said shed defer to her former boss before deciding on making a run.

As one close adviser coolly remarked: Theyre all so afraid [of] going first maybe? Or saying something that sounds like theyre moving on from the Trump years.

On the congressional level, Trumps impact on the composition of the party has been visible in obvious and subtle ways. He helped orchestrate the ouster of Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership ranks, and either directly or indirectly drove numerous lawmakers to retirement. As FiveThiryEight noted, of the 293 Republicans who were serving in the Senate or House on Jan. 20, 2017 the day of Trumps inauguration a full 132 (45 percent) are no longer in Congress or have announced their retirement or resignation.

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Republicans fear Trump will lead to a lost generation of talent - POLITICO

Elected officials dont have the right to break the laws the rest of us have to follow. And they also shouldnt be able to obstruct justice when theyre under investigation. If anything, the bar should be higher for our elected officials. Congress, after all, writes the laws that form the architecture of our criminal justice system and should be responsible for obeying them.

Elected officials dont have the right to break the laws the rest of us have to follow.

When news that the Justice Department was investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., for obstruction of justice in connection with alleged sexual misconduct broke on Wednesday, his office issued this statement: Congressman Gaetz pursues justice, he doesnt obstruct it."

Gaetz may live to regret those comments. If he is ultimately indicted, a federal prosecutor may read that statement to a jury in closing argument and remind them that obstruction of justice is not, as some of the former presidents allies suggested, an insignificant process crime (whatever that means).

Juries understand, and so do we, that obstruction of justice is significant. Its about whether our system can deliver justice.

The crime of obstruction of justice is committed when one person intimidates, threatens or corruptly persuades a witness, intending to influence, delay, or prevent their testimony in connection with an official proceeding. The statute sweeps broadly to include a wide variety of conduct intended to prevent investigators from getting to the truth about the commission of a crime. At its core are concerns about criminals who try to tamper with witnesses to conceal the facts. This is the heartland of the conduct Congress intended to prohibit.

Prosecutors, following Congresss lead, take obstruction seriously because it threatens the integrity of our criminal justice system and cuts at the heart of justice. Obstruction cannot be tolerated or ignored. And, as a practical matter, people tend to obstruct when they have something to hide. An obstruction charge can underscore a defendants knowledge that he violated the law and provide additional proof of the underlying charges.

The truth about Gaetz will come out in the course of the federal investigation that is reportedly ongoing. We dont know the details of the conversation he allegedly had when an ex-girlfriend conferenced him in on a phone call with a key witness in the investigation, but the ex-girlfriend is reportedly seeking an immunity deal in exchange for her cooperation because she herself fears obstruction charges. The DOJ has also not charged Gaetz with any crimes at this point (and Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing). However, if prosecutors develop sufficient evidence to sustain charges against him, including a charge of obstruction of justice, he should anticipate that he will be indicted.

Beyond Gaetzs individual alleged crimes, which include the trafficking of a minor and possibly extend to public corruption, we are waiting to see whether the allegations of obstruction prove true and whether they signal a broader trend among former President Donald Trumps self-styled political successors.

Trump unabashedly criticized judges he disagreed with and publicly encouraged his attorneys general to prosecute his enemies and protect his friends. In this, his conduct was unique among our political leaders. His envisioned a criminal justice system he could manipulate for his personal benefit.

Unlike President Richard Nixon, who turned over his tapes when a court told him to and President Bill Clinton, who submitted to prosecutors questioning, Trump consistently held himself above the law. He declined to submit to an in-person interview in connection with the Mueller investigation and withheld witnesses and evidence. Mueller, in his report submitted to the attorney general, laid out ten potential allegations of obstruction against the former president. He stopped short of accusing him of committing a crime but also refused to exonerate him. So far, Trump has escaped legal consequences for his contempt but we should be concerned if his allies (Gaetz, for instance) try to adopt his approach.

Our system of justice is fragile at the moment, stretched thin because it only works if people believe in it. Trumps White House tenure diminished Americans confidence in our institutions. If his utter disregard for the law becomes the new norm for political figures, we are at great risk.

It doesnt take a career at the Justice Department to understand why obstruction of justice is a serious crime. In authoritarian systems and banana republics, powerful people who set themselves above the law obstruct justice to avoid its consequences. If select people can prevent investigations into their misconduct, our entire criminal justice system would crumble. Thats why a person can be prosecuted for obstruction of justice, even if their attempt fails or if prosecutors are unable to prove the underlying crime a defendant is accused of trying to conceal.

We care about accountability for people who try to thwart justice, whether they are the least or the most successful at it. Congress, too, has made it clear that obstruction of justice is a serious crime, imposing penalties of up to 20 years in cases of witness interference. As former special counsel Bob Mueller once said, obstruction "strikes at the core of the governments effort to find the truth and hold wrongdoers accountable. And thats why its an extraordinarily serious charge, particularly against a sitting member of Congress.

Gaetz is an avowed disciple of Donald Trump. He told a crowd at the Villages, a Florida retirement community, last month, that the Republican party is Donald Trump's party, and I'm a Donald Trump Republican." While others in public life might have resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct even conduct that doesnt rise to the level of a crime, like Al Franken who resigned from the Senate over misconduct allegations or Katie Hill who resigned from the House after acknowledging that her affair with a staffer was inappropriate Gaetz has doubled down, saying he did nothing wrong.

We care about accountability for people who try to thwart justice, whether they are the least or the most successful at it.

In the statement his spokesman released, he criticized, presumably DOJ prosecutors, for not making a single on-record accusation of misconduct. (Of course, those prosecutors wouldnt make public accusations before an indictment is returned.) Its legitimate to defend oneself against criminal charges, but entirely out of bounds to, as the statute says, corruptly persuade a witness to withhold the truth from investigators, hoping to derail an investigation.

If investigators do prove that Gaetz tried to prevent a witness from testifying against him or alter their testimony, he should be pursued with the full force of the law. This must happen so that justice is done in this specific case. But on a much broader level, this case is a test of a criminal justice system dramatically undermined by our last president. Interfering with justice cannot become the new norm. And we cannot tolerate any more efforts by our politicians to hold themselves above the law.

Joyce White Vance is an MSNBC columnist andNBC News and MSNBC legal analyst. She is a law professor at the University of Alabama School of Law and a former U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Alabama.

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Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump and why obstruction of justice matters - MSNBC

Donald Trump Jr.Don TrumpDonald Trump Jr. joins Cameo Book claims Trump family members were 'inappropriately' close with Secret Service agents Trump Jr. shares edited video showing father knocking Biden down with golf ball MORE made his debut on Cameo this week, where he will be selling personalized video messages to fans, starting at just over $500.

Trump's account is set up to deliver video messages for $525 if fans want to receive them in two to seven days. For quicker messages, fans can opt to get a video delivered in less than 24 hours, which will cost them $787, according to the Independent.

Fans of former President TrumpDonald TrumpTrump touts record, blasts Dems in return to stage Trump demands China pay 'reparations' for role in coronavirus pandemic Trump endorses Rep. Ted Budd for Senate MORE's oldest son can also message him directly for $19.99.

Dont worry about it if your wifes mad at you for saying that election night 2016 was the happiest night of your life ... theres millions of people just like you, you can tell her I said that, Trump Jr.said in a videoto an Australian supporter. Thanks for helping us out and support us in going after the liberals and the crazies on CNN.

Trump Jr. says in his account bio that a portion of the proceeds he receives will go to charity.

"Father, Patriot, Outdoorsman, Businessman, Political Commentator and #1 NYT Bestselling author. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Shadow Warriors Project," his bio reads.

Trump Jr.'s latest venture comes after he recently complained about the "millions" he has sustained in legal bills due to the multiple ongoing criminal probes into the Trump Organization.

In a recent appearance on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," Trump Jr. slammedNew York Attorney General Letitia James forher investigation, which recently announced it is working in coordination with a separate probe from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.

I think its political persecution, and I know that because she literally campaigned on it. She was going to investigate the crimes. The problem is it wasnt as though she was a part of this office. She had no idea but, in New York, its OK to try to persecute your political enemies, to try to target them, to try to hurt them and theyve been doing that for over five years, Trump said on Fox News.

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Donald Trump Jr. joins Cameo | TheHill - The Hill

Which is to say that Trump is such a skinflint that hed rather risk McGahn telling Congress that, yes, the president personally directed him to commit obstruction of justiceto fire Robert Mueller and then to create a fake paper trail to suggest that Trump never asked him to do thatthan have to shell out his own money to try to stop it!

So thats one legal wall Trump has run into. And yes, it matters. If the facts stated in the Mueller Report are correct, and McGahn fesses up to them, it may not make any difference to the January 6 crowd, but we will have a presidents legal counsel on the record saying that the president obstructed justice. Thats a big deal.

The second and more prominent wall, of course, was the Supreme Court, which needed about three seconds to decide that Trumps accountants did indeed have to turn over his tax returns to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

The courts original ruling was delivered last July, at which time even Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined a seven-justice majority concurring with Chief Justice John Robertss ruling that no citizen, not even the president, is categorically above the common duty to produce evidence when called upon in a criminal proceeding (Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented). In February, the court denied Trumps emergency request to block a subpoena for the returns, ending the matter. This time, no dissents were publicly noted.

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Don McGahn's Testimony Could Finally Break Donald Trump's Ability to Evade the Law - The New Republic

Former President Donald Trump's "From the Desk of..." blog crashed on Saturday. Users were greeted with an error message, saying "something has gone wrong and this URL cannot be processed at this time."

The hourlong outage came after Trump posted a message about the ongoing election recount in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to the Gateway Pundit.

The message included unverified statements about election fraud in Arizona, saying "seals were broken on the boxes that hold the votes, ballots are missing, and worse."

Trump launched the blog in early May as a way to talk directly to his followers and the media. He was previously removed from both Twitter and Facebook, his most-used social media networks.

The Twitter ban for @RealDonaldTrump was said to be permanent. Facebook has been wrestling with letting the former president back onto its platform. The company said earlier this month that it plans to revisit the decision in six months.

His blog had about 212,0000 engagements during its first week online, notably fewer than some of his most popular tweets.

Earlier this month, Peter Loge, an associate professor at George Washington University, told Insider's Thomas Colson that "Trump is just shouting into the void."

Loge added: "He isn't letting anyone shout back. Shouting at people is a less effective way to maintain celebrity status and keep selling new merchandise than finding ways to create the illusion of interaction is."

Trump's blog states that it's paid for by Save America, a joint fundraising committee paid for by political action committees Save America and Make America Great Again.

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Donald Trump's new blog crashed after he posted an unverified claim about election fraud in Arizona - Business Insider

The New York attorney general's two-year civil probe into the Trump Organization is now a criminal investigation. Here's what we know so far. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON The stakes of investigations into former President Donald Trump and his close orbit increased on Tuesday, when New York Attorney General Letitia James announced she's joining forces with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance in a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization.

"We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature," James spokesman Fabien Levy said in a statement first reported late Tuesday by CNN. "We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan (district attorney)."

While the New York attorney has been conducting a civil investigation examining the finances of the Trump Organization for over a year, the latest revelation ups the pressure on the former president and his family, who have been dogged by investigators over the past several years.

President Trump and Rudy Giuliani on Aug. 14, 2020, in Bedminster, New Jersey.(Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

'Vulnerable to prosecution': When Trump leaves White House, presidential 'cloak of immunity' goes away

New York probe: NY AG investigating whether Donald Trump inflated value of Seven Springs estate

More: Eric Trump must sit for deposition in NY investigation before Election Day, judge rules

The implications of a criminal investigation into Trump and those in his close orbit have gained particular salience because Trump nowlacks any immunity he enjoyed while president. The former president cannot pardon his former aides and close allies, a power he used to protect associates who were pursued in previous criminal investigations.

Here is what we know about the latest investigation into Trump and how it fits into the broader legal troubles for the former president.

New York's attorney general and Manhattan's district attorney are now jointly investigating possible criminal wrongdoing on the part of the Trump Organization.(Photo: Davidepj / iStock)

James' announcement of cooperation with the Manhattan DA adds weight to the ongoing criminal investigation into the Trump Organization, examining potential tax and bank-related fraud. Prosecutors are especially interested in whether Trump overvalued his properties and obscured debts in order to obtain valuable loans and other financial negotiations.

The New York attorney general will now cooperate with that investigation, broadening the available resources, jurisdiction and potential penalties. It is not immediately clear what additional roles the attorney general's office will play.

The original investigation began after Trump's former personal fixer Michael Cohen alleged in 2019 testimony to Congress that he and Trump repeatedly misled potential lenders and clients about the value of their properties and businesses in official documents.

Related: From Trump fixer to Mueller informant: Timeline of Michael Cohen's role in Russia probe

Vance's office was involved in a years-long court battle to obtain the former president's tax records and other documents relating to the Trump Organization.

The battle was finished at the Supreme Court, where the justices determined that the then-president must make his taxes available to the prosecutors but that prosecutors could not make the files public.

The district attorney received millions of pages of documents from the organization, including eight years of Trump's tax returns.

Taxes received: Donald Trump's tax records obtained by New York prosecutors, boosting investigation

And the attorney general is no stranger to investigating the Trump family's endeavors.

James previously investigated the Trump Foundation, the family organization's charitable arm, for fraud. The investigation resulted in the organization paying out $2 million in court-ordered damages to eight different charities in 2019. The foundation was then disolved by court order later that year.

Big picture: 'Vulnerable to prosecution': When Trump leaves White House, presidential 'cloak of immunity'goes away

Trump is also facing a criminal investigation in Georgia, where Fulton County prosecutors are examining Trump's attempts tointerfere in the state's election and illegally tilt the vote count in his favor.

Georgia prosecutors have acknowledged they are reviewing a range of possible offenses, including solicitation of election fraud, false statements, conspiracy, oath of office violations, racketeering and violence associated with threats to the election process.

2020 fallout: Georgia prosecutors investigate election fraud, conspiracy after Trump's pressure campaign as part of 'high-priority' criminal probe

Trump is also facing two defamation lawsuits brought by women who accusedhim of sexually assaulting them and then disparaging them ashe denied the allegations.

Former Elle magazine writer E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in New York City in the mid-1990s. She sued him for defamation in 2019, after Trump accused her of lying to boost the sale of her memoir in which she described the incident. Carroll is also seeking DNA evidence to see if Trump's genetic material is on a dress she said she wore during the alleged rape.

Related: 19 women have accused Trump of sexual misconduct. Here's what their stories have in common.

Former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos filed a similar lawsuit in New York state court, claiming that Trump forced himself on her by kissing and groping on multiple occasions.

Meanwhile, Mary Trump, the president's niece, has accused him and his siblings of cheating her out of millions of dollars in inheritance while squeezing them out of the family business.

More: Biden says he won't order an investigation of Trump, president's legal troubles remain

Trump, in a lengthy written statement, cast the attorney general's announcement as political warfare.

"There is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime," Trump said. "But, make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here...The Attorney General of New York literally campaigned on prosecuting DonaldTrump even before she knew anything about me."

Kevin Johnson and Jon Campbell contributed to this report.

Follow Matthew Brown online @mrbrownsir.

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What we know about investigations looming over Donald Trump and Trump Organization - USA TODAY

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Get the coronavirus news from around the world, read more about the investigation into Donald Trump and his business interests and see more stories trending online today.

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Donald Trump, coronavirus news & more: Whats trending today - cleveland.com

Capital T: The Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue has a 60-year lease from the U.S. government.

Donald Trump, the landlord, was often accused of using his time in the Oval Office to pad his private business interests. His critics repeatedly decried his lack of transparency. The former president never had to publicly disclose who his tenants were because his commercial real estate portfolio was held by a collection of shell companies, and federal disclosure laws only apply to direct payments.

Last year Forbes revealed that 25 commercial tenants renting space in Trumps buildings were throwing him some $115 million a year. During the former presidents time in office, some of those tenantsfrom big investment banks to household-name consumer brands like Nike, Duane Reade and Starbuckshad either lobbied the federal government or bid for federal contracts, or sometimes both.

Meanwhile, the whiff of impropriety has also lingered over Donald Trump, the tenant. His lavish Washington, D.C. hotel is ensconced inside the spectacular Old Post Office, a federal building with a unique, historic importance to the country. From its completion in 1899, the impressive building, whose iconic clock tower houses the Bells of Congress, served for years at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue as the main post office for the nations capital. Yet in the modern era, the building had become an underutilized money pit.

In 2012, the U.S. government awarded a 60-year lease to the Trump Organization, which beat out bids by hospitality behemoths Marriott International and Hilton Worldwide. Trump said that he had paid too much, and history may prove that Uncle Sam got the best of him.

In striking a deal with the General Services Administration (GSA), the agency that manages federally owned properties, the Trump Organization agreed to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to painstakingly restore the buildings Romanesque Revival exterior and convert the interior into a luxury hotel. To cover the massive renovation costs, Trumps company invested $42 million, got an historic-preservation tax credit to cover roughly $40million, and took out a $170 million loan from Deutsche Bank, which appears to be in trouble. On top of all of that, the Trump Organization pays the government approximately $248,000 per month in rentwhich works out to a cool $3 million per year.

Throughout Trumps presidency, Democratic members of the U.S. Housesubcommittee tasked with oversight of federal real estate assets argued that Trump was in breach of the lease when he became president, on the grounds that the agreement prohibits any elected official from benefitting personally from the lease. They made 10 requests for financial statements relating to the Trump International Hotel, including a subpoena in 2019. All were blocked by the Trump-appointed GSA administrator.

But now it appears that the eleventh times the charm. With a Biden-appointed acting administrator now running the agency, the GSA is finally coughing up some of those documents, CNN reported last week. The GSA conveyed to House Transportation Chairman Peter DeFazio, the that it was turning over monthly financial statements from Trumps hotel, audits and lease amendments.

The GSA provided those documents on a confidential basis and have not released them publicly, though some older documents relating to the Old Post Office are available online. Many have been heavily redacted.

Yet despite the GSAs years of stonewalling and less-than-transparent paper trail, Trump foes hoping to discover a smoking gun may be disappointed.

The tenant is paying the rent as agreed to under the lease and has been making rental payments consistent with its obligations under the lease. Those payments have not been late, said a GSA spokesperson via email.

In April 2020, the Trump Organization requested rent relief on the property during the pandemic, The New York Times reportedbut that request was denied.

The tenant did not receive rent relief for the OPO lease, according to the GSA. And there have been no amendments to the lease to change the rental payments.

That is all 100% correct, a Trump Organization spokesperson confirmed via email.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in the grand lobby of Trump international Hotel on October 26, 2016. (Photo by Cheriss May)

In many ways, the fortunes of Trumps D.C. hotel have mirrored the former presidents political trajectory. Right after the 2016 presidential election, the hotel became instantly synonymous with schmoozy grift, as right-wing personalities and GOP elected officials made a point of frequenting the hotel and taking selfies in the Benjamin Bar. The hotel took in $18 million in the first four months of 2017 and another $34 million in the last eight,according to Trumps financial disclosure report.

But in time, the magic wore off. By 2019, the Trump Organization had quietly put the hotel on the market but failed to nab a bid even close to the $500 million asking price. Trumps lastfinancial disclosure report,released in the hours after his presidency ended, showed theTrump International Hotels revenue was down$33 million in 2020a 62% drop from the previous year. And while the hotel was eventually pulled off the market, Bloomberg reported last month that the Trumps were still open to offers.

Now, with Trump having exited D.C., the line of folks wanting to curry favor by spending a few nights at his hotel or making an appearance at the restaurant has dwindledleaving the hotels future unclear.

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Donald Trump Is An Exemplary Tenant, Says His Washington D.C. Landlord - Forbes

Donald Trump has moved his base operation from Mar-a-Lago in Florida to Bedminster, New Jersey, ahead of a fundraiser this weekend, according to a report from CNN.

Trump made the move last week and is expected to reside in the members only Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster through the summer.

The former president is expected to make an appearance at a fundraiser at Bedminster for the Make America Great Again Super Pac on Saturday.

The pro-Trump fundraiser, which is run by his longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski, will be Trumps first official appearance at the club this season, although he has been spotted playing the clubs 36-hole golf course. The fundraiser on Saturday will include reception and a dinner. The minimum price for entry is $250,000.

Former Trump aides have also set up base at Bedminster Township. The move will make it easier for the staff to visit the Trump offices in Trump Towers in Manhattan which is 45 miles east of Bedminster. Trumps daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, also have a property on the Bedminster resort.

Several lawmakers, including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, had visited the former president in his Mar-a-Lago residency, where he settled after he lost the presidency, seeking endorsement from him.

It is expected future pro-Trump fundraisers and visits from potential candidates seeking his endorsement will also shift from south Florida to New Jersey.

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Donald Trump flies north for the summer to New Jersey golf club - The Guardian

Correction: This article has been updated to correct which states Joe Biden won in 2020 that Donald Trump won in 2016.

WASHINGTONShortly after meeting at the White House on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., sent an aggressive fundraising text signaling a renewed effort to target his host, the president.

"I just met with Corrupt Joe Biden and hes STILL planning to push his radical Socialist agenda onto the American people," the text said.

McCarthy and other Republicans said intraparty squabbles, including the drama surrounding Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.,distracted them from presenting a unified front against Biden and his big spending plans.

Now that Cheney's been expelled from Republican congressional leadership, the GOP and its allies are renewing attacks on Biden on issues such as immigration, taxing the wealthy, foreign policyand the ability of a 78-year-old man to handle the political world's toughest jobs.

A number of factors, analysts said, have foiled those Republican attempts and could keep Republicans from landing a lasting punch.

Biden hosts 'big four' Congressional leaders at WH

President Joe Biden hosts the first formal gathering of the "big four" congressional leaders on Wednesday. Biden's sit-down Oval Office meeting comes as the White House accelerates its efforts to reach a bipartisan infrastructure agreement. (May 12)

AP

After more than three months in office, Biden enjoys approval ratings of more than 50%, and polling showssupport for his ambitious spending plans that include $1.9 trillion approved for COVID-19 relief and $2.3 trillion proposed for jobs and infrastructure.

'I don't understand the Republicans': Joe Biden says GOP in middle of 'mini-revolution' amid Cheney dustup

'Stop the Spending Spree': Fiscal conservatives mobilize to block Biden's jobs and families plans

The Republicans' success or failure in tarnishing Biden and his team could determine whether they win back Congress in 2022 and the White House in 2024. History is on their side: Midterm electionsfrequently see control of Congress change hands.

Ex-President Donald Trump, deprived of Twitter and other social mediabut still viewed by many as the most powerful Republican voice in the country, increased his outputof written statements, many of them attacking his successor over a variety of issues.

Stepped-up Republican attacks may not resonate, analysts said,especially if more people get back to work, inflation is checked, and the economy rebounds after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lara Brown, director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, said most Americans "approve of the job President Biden is doing and believe that the country is on the right track."

"It is difficult for the Republicans to raise a ruckus and rile the public," she said, "when most are either satisfied or feeling optimistic about the future.

Republicans have had little success demonizing Biden with independent voters because so many people feel they know him, analysts said.

The president has been a fixture in American politics for more than a half-century. A senator from Delaware for more than three decades, Biden participated in many high-profile hearings and congressional debates. He served eight years as vice president to President Barack Obama.

After winning the Democratic nomination for president last year, Bidenracked up more than 80 million votes to unseat Trump despite Trump and his Republican allies lobbing constant allegations of malfeasance against Biden and his sonHunter, as well as attacks on Biden's fitness to hold office.

Some of those attacks have continued into the Biden presidencybutto little avail.

An average of polls compiled by Real Clear Politics gives Biden an average job approval rating of 54.2%.

The underlying data in those polls shows a common theme: Republicans tend not to like Biden, and Democrats support him strongly, including those who backed more liberal candidates such as Bernie Sanders in last year's primaries.

Americans have a generally positive view of the president who casts himself as the product of a working-class environment in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a practical politician willing to work with Republicans on legislation to help Americans.

"There's nothing new (Republicans) can say that's going to change anybody's mind," saidPatrickMurray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., left, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., head opposition to President Joe Biden's big spending plans.Evan Vucci, AP

Many Republicans expect Americans will become dissatisfied with record levels of government spending and debt, an increasingly crowded U.S.-Mexican borderand new rules and regulations promulgated by the Democratic Congress and the Biden administration.

Pledging to work with the Biden administration on an infrastructure bill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he is "hopeful" that "we may be able to do some things on a bipartisan basis but they got off to a pretty hard left-wing start."

"We don't intend to participate in turning America into a left-wing,kind of Bernie Sanders vision of what this country ought to be like," McConnell told Fox News after the meeting between Biden and congressional leaders.

Conservative groups are stepping up campaigns against Biden and his spending proposals.

The organization Americans For Prosperity is preparing ads for competitive House elections in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona and Georgia. Biden wrested those states from Trump in the 2020 election, providing him his margin of victory in the Electoral College.

Some Republican criticism plays off Biden's age and his occasionally mangled syntax, but that strategy has met limited success. Some of the attacks mirror the ones Trump made in 2020 against "Sleepy Joe."

"Trump never found a salient way to brand Biden, and Republicans continue to struggle after the election," Republican strategist Alex Conant said.

"Conservatives main angle of criticism is Bidens age," he said, "but nobody is afraid of their grandfather."

Republicans said they were distracted in making the case against Biden by a lack of cohesion, including internal disagreements over what to do about Trump.

Some blamed Cheney, the now-former House Republican Conference chair who argued that the party should move past Trump and stop echoing his lies that the 2020 election was stolen from him. She said those claims triggered the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, an incident Democrats would surely use against Republicans when elections roll around.

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House Republicans voted Wednesday to demote Cheney from her role as third-ranking Republican. She responded that the GOP would struggle against Biden and his agenda if it continues to embrace Trump and his conspiracy theories.

"To be as effective as we can be to fight against those things, our party has to be based on truth," Cheney told NBC News.

House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who supported demoting Cheney, said voters are disenchanted with Biden and the Democrats. Scalise told Fox News he sees "a lot of really serious concern about the direction that the socialist Democrats are taking us," and "Biden has embraced that far-left Bernie Sandersagenda."

"People don't want this to become a socialist nation, yet you see how far theyre moving," Scalise said.

Republicans had success taking control of Congress in the elections of 1994 and 2010, the first midterms for Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton and BarackObama.

Both of those presidents were more polarizing than Biden, analysts said, and Republicans made great use of hot-button issues, such asDemocratic health care proposals.

The success of attacks on Biden may depend on overarching factors, particularly the state of the economy, analysts said. A massive event could also shake politics, as 9/11 did in the run-up to the 2002 elections.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Republicans is they lack the megaphone of the White House to promote themselves and denigratetheir opponents.

"It's always difficult to generate a unifying message when you're the party out of power," GOP pollster Whit Ayres said.

Published9:30 am UTC May. 15, 2021Updated9:01 pm UTC May. 18, 2021

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Joe Biden proves an elusive target for Republicans. After Cheney fight, their focus is back on the president - USA TODAY