Trump's power play is BACKFIRING as betrayed Republicans go rogue

Let me just acknowledge that what I'm about to say is going to seem like a very weird place to start this show.But I promise you it is relevant to one of the biggest stories of the day.Okay.This is Jackie Heinrich.She is a White House reporter over at the Fox News Network.You may have seen her years ago questioning me from the briefing room.

And last year, Fox News reporter, again, you see right there on your screen, Jackie Heinrich, got engaged to this guy on screen, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.And that's the moment after he popped the question.They're in a lavender field in France.It's all very adorable.Now, why am I telling you all of this?You're like, what is happening right now?

Because today, that Fox News reporter tried to ask the President of the United States a pretty straightforward question, and this is how he responded.

Prime Minister Netanyahu.

When her husband votes against me all the time, can you imagine?I don't know what's with him.You better ask him what's with him.Her husband, she's married to a certain congressman.He likes voting against Trump.You know what happens with that?

Doesn't work out well.I don't know why he does.

Okay, first off, as far as I know, Congressman Fitzpatrick is not quite Jackie Heinrich's husband yet.They're getting married later this spring.But that's beside the point.The point here is this.Donald Trump is making not -so -veiled threats aimed at members of his own party who have the audacity to vote against his agenda.Now, inside Trump's mind palace, you could call it, he clearly believes he's riding high after he ousted Republican Congressman Thomas Massey last night, after he ousted Republican Senator Bill Cassidy last week, and after he ousted several Republican state legislators in Indiana earlier this month.

He clearly feels great about all of the members of his own party he has managed to take out in the past month.I'd note it took $33 million to take out Massey, most expensive race in congressional history.And now he's expanding the battlefield of his Republican Civil War, though I would note, threatening not just Republicans in ruby red districts who will be replaced by other Republicans, but Republicans like Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a crucial swing district, Republicans are trying desperately to hold on to this November.To put a fine point on it, I think you all get this, but if Trump takes out Brian Fitzpatrick, a Democrat takes that seat, not a Republican.So how did Brian Fitzpatrick take Trump's not -so -veiled threat?Did he cower in fear from a president who is bragging about the foes he's taken out from his own party?

Well, here was Brian Fitzpatrick just a few hours later when he was asked about Trump's new slush fund for capital rioters, a .k .a.the so -called Anti -Weaponization Fund.

What are you making this $1 .7 billion fund for?Bad news.We're going to try to kill it.You're going to try to kill it?Wow.OK.

And how?

Well, we're considering legislative options.We're going to write a letter to the AG to start, but we're considering a legislative option.We're trying to unpack exactly, you know, what the legal machinations are, but you can't do that.

Have you ever heard of any other Americans, like, other than Trump as an associate?I haven't.Who are unauditable by the IRS?I've never heard that before.So would that be part of the legislative?Of course.

Of course.Yeah, you can't do that.

Yeah, you can't do that.Pretty clear.That's what I've been saying.That's what a lot of people have been saying.But Brian Fitzpatrick does not sound at all scared of Trump's threats.That was not a fearful guy.

But before you give him any sort of profile and courage award, you should know that Brian Fitzpatrick represents a district that Joe Biden won by three and a half points.He knows that no matter how much Trump thumps his chest, no matter how many times he threatens him, the people who he really has to fear are the general election voters in his district.Those are the people who have to fear.the power to take him from congressman to unemployed husband of a much younger Fox News reporter.That's almost certainly why, today, Congressman Fitzpatrick sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche demanding answers about Trump's new slush fund for capital rioters.And Congressman Fitzpatrick isn't just some random member of Congress trying to pick a fight with Trump.

He sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has oversight over the IRS.So he will have ample opportunity, potentially, to demand more answers about this fund.And the thing is, Brian Fitzpatrick isn't the only Republican who doesn't seem scared by Trump's threats.Today, Republicans are preparing to strip the taxpayer money for Trump's very unpopular ballroom project out of their latest funding bill.Trump had pressured Senate Majority Leader John Thune to take drastic measures to force that funding through Congress.He even pressured Thune to fire the Senate parliamentarian so they could override the rules of Congress, all to get his precious ballroom money.

But John Thune didn't fire the parliamentarian.And even if he had, the funding for the ballroom would probably not have made it into the package, because Trump still apparently doesn't have enough support from members of his own party to pass the bill with that included.Republican Senator John Kennedy even told reporters, quote, So aside from the fact that it feels like a politically insane thing to vote for, why aren't Republicans falling in line with Trump's ballroom project?According to Politico, the mood over Trump's ballroom soured Tuesday amid anger over Trump's decision to endorse Ken Paxton over incumbent Senator John Cornyn in the upcoming Republican primary runoff in Texas.So here's the thing.Trump's attempts to assert power over his party seem to be backfiring with his slush fund, with his ballroom, even with this war.

I mean, just two days after Trump ousted Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana in his primary, Cassidy broke ranks and cast the decisionvote to move forward with a resolution to rein in Trump's war in Iran.That measure now appears likely to pass the Senate.It's going to be sent over to the House.These are all one -offs.They're part of a pattern of Trump's attempts at retribution against people in his own party backfiring.

And no one but Trump and his closest sycophants think he is operating from a real position of power.As one anonymous senior operative for Senate Republicans told Politico, those so -called victories over the last couple weeks are just a mirage.They are self -owns.We're not actually beating Democrats, and we're not actually advancing legislation.Instead, gas is up 45 % due to our actions and the president's decision to go to war with Iran.He's focused on the ballroom.

He's announced a $1 .8 billion restitution fund with zero details or congressional authority to do so.It just is crazy.Trump is acting like he's all powerful within his party at a time when he's actually quite toxic.I mean, a new Quinnipiac poll out today finds Trump's approval rating at just 34%, the lowest he's received in that poll during his second term.That's on par with right around where he was right after January 6, just to give you a sense.And just 33 % approve of his handling of the economy, another record low for that poll.

A new Fox News poll out tonight also finds a record number of voters now disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, with disapproval from Republicans jumping seven points in just the past month.Now, none of this has led to a big fever breaking moment when Republicans in Congress suddenly abandoned Trump en masse.That's not what I'm saying.But it has created several new strains within the Republican Party, strains of Republicans who are more willing than ever, seemingly, to break with Donald Trump.They're the group I'm going to call the survivors.People like Senator Susan Collins of Maine, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who I just talked about, who faced tough re -election campaigns and are just trying to hang on to their jobs.

Then there's what we're going to start calling the YOLO caucus, as in, you only live once.Republicans who either chose to retire or were forced into retirement by Donald Trump and who now have zero Fs to give.People like Thomas Massie, Senator Bill Cassidy, Tom Tillis, And if he loses next week's Texas Senate primary and subsequently grows a spine, maybe John Cornyn will join him.I'm not going to hold my breath, but we can watch that.A growing number of elected Republicans are increasingly unhappy with Trump's unhinged behavior.The voters are increasingly unhappy with Trump's unhinged behavior.

So who is happy about all of this?Well, I mean, there's Trump himself, obviously.He feels very good about himself.Trump doesn't seem to care who he alienates in his party, as long as he's able to line his own pockets.And the New York Times reports that Trump's new slush fund settlement with the IRS could erase as much as $100 million from his own tax bill.So Trump has no reason to complain, even as members of his party start pulling their hair out over how bad this all looks for them.

Likewise, Trump's rogue gallery of insurrectionists and election deniers are equally thrilled with the windfalls that may be coming their way.Disgraced MyPillow CEO and election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell told CNN he expects to receive, wait for it, at least $400 million from the fund.The right wing news outlet One America News is reportedly also considering seeking money from the fund after they were sued for defamation for spreading false election conspiracies.Remember, this is the same administration that stripped funding from nonpartisan outlets like PBS and NPR, claiming they were ending taxpayer subsidies for biased media.Now they may end up using your tax dollars to fund an expansion.biased right -wing outlet.

And according to the New York Times, many of the January 6th rioters have started to muse about what they might do with their settlement money, everything from new cars to new houses to funding new political campaigns.Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the neo -fascist Proud Boys movement, told Reuters he wants between $2 and $5 million, adding, quote, I'm not greedy.But amazingly, there are some capital rioters who have decided that $1 .8 billion isn't enough money.They actually think they deserve more.Jacob Chancellor, aka the QAnon shaman, told CNN that he isn't going to participate in the fund because he's still suing the government for $40 trillion, which is about 10 times the annual budget of the entire U .S.

government, just to put it in perspective.Now, another Capitol writer reportedly said they didn't think $1 .8 billion was enough once you divided among all the insurrectionists.He told The Times, quote, even when Trump divorced Marla Maples and he was getting interviewed on it, he admitted that a million dollars isn't a lot of money.Look, handing over any amount of money, a dollar to these people, isn't just immoral and insane, it's political suicide.The backlash against this is growing by the day.Even Republicans are starting to understand how bad this looks for them.

The question now is, Is there enough outrage and momentum for Congress to actually stop it?