Trump's Hypnotic Hold Over Republican Lawmakers Makes No Sense

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been showing a ridiculous amount of loyalty to Donald Trump, and it has never really made much sense. Trump has no power over these people since leaving office, but they've still stood by his side, even when it costs them with the rest of the power. Farron Cousins explains why the worship of Trump extends all the way from the backwoods to the halls of Congress.

Listen to our videos in an audio format by subscribing to our podcast

Don't forget to like, comment, and share! And subscribe to stay connected!

Connect with Farron on Twitter

*This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos.

A lot of members of the House and the Senate, of course on the Republican side, have made it clear that their loyalty is not to the United States Constitution or to the rule of law, or even to their constituents. Their loyalty remains solidly with Donald Trump. Which of course leads us to another viewer question, this one from Kathy Finstad, 1 4 6 8, who asks, I do not understand why Republicans in the House and Senate still support Trump. What does he have to do before they finally take a stand against him? What is the hold he has over them? And it almost really does seem like there is this hypnotic hold that Donald Trump has over these sitting lawmakers. But I think the reason so many of them still clinging to him is 'cause they believe doing so helps them in elections. And for the most part, if they're sitting in Congress right now as a card carrying member of the MAGA cult, then it has helped them.

See, that's the problem. They will support him. They will blindly be loyal to them, to him until it affects them personally. Until they can see the consequences of falling in line with him reflected in their own lives, they will continue. You know, for most people, unfortunately, that is how the world works, right? You know, we can, we can do weird things, we can do bad things. We can do, you know, kind of shady things and it's okay as long as it actually doesn't negatively impact us. But the second we start seeing the consequences of our actions, we, we can change our ways. Suddenly we realize, you know what? Maybe I don't need to have that other drink. Maybe I don't need to go for a smoke, break it. It's hurting me. Yeah, it's, it's been great up to now, but I'm starting to get winded walking up a single flight of stairs.

I'm starting to, you know, drink a little too much. And that's kind of how it is with the, with the Trump cult in Congress. If these people can continue clinging to this bad habit, which is what we'll call 'em, but not see any negative consequences from it, then what does it matter? Yeah, they can look around them and see that, okay, well my colleague who was here last year isn't here this year because he got voted out for loving Donald Trump. But hey, it's not gonna happen to me, right? I'm safe, I'm protected. The negative side effects of this horrible thing are not going to come to me. Some people do escape side effects, and I'm probably one of the lucky ones. So I think they continue down this path, and even though it has hurt them as a party, it hasn't hurt enough of them as individuals. And there's plenty of them, by the way, who are gonna keep doing it.

You know, you look at Matt Gates and I always go to him because he's my congressman. I live in his district. I know what his district is like. They're not gonna vote him out. They love that. He loves Trump. That is a positive for him. It does help him. So he will use his power in any way he can to always do Trump's bidding. Marjorie Taylor Greene is another great example. Jim Jordan is a great example. These are individuals who can do horrible things, and their constituents will still say, two more years for you, bud. We love Trump too. So even when their colleagues start losing their jobs and Republicans lose the majority in in Congress next year, most likely, those people are still gonna be there. And they're gonna say that, Hey, well, I clung to Trump and nothing bad happened to me. So clearly that must be a winning strategy. That's why they continue to do it. Until they suffer the negative side effects, they're not gonna drop that bad habit.