Republicans are getting nervous that they could lose control of the House in 2018, giving Democrats subpoena power to use in really truly investigating Donald Trump and his administration. That in turn, Republicans fear, could lead to impeachment. And because we’re talking about Donald Trump here, many members of his party are concerned he doesn’t understand how much danger he could be in or how much worse he’s making things for himself by focusing on fights with members of his own party over passing legislation.
Alex Conant, a partner at GOP public affairs firm Firehouse Strategies, said Trump should focus on protecting his own party.
"The number one thing Trump should be doing to save his presidency is helping congressional Republicans maintain their majorities," Conant said. "Instead he's allowing his allies like Steve Bannon to really undermine Republican reelection campaigns. It's just reckless and politically naive considering how devastating it would be to his presidency." [...]
"If we lose the House, he could get impeached. Do you think he understands that?" one top GOP donor recalled an exasperated Republican senator saying privately.
Trump, reckless? Trump, not understanding the potential fallout from his actions? Surely not! According to the White House director of legislative affairs, Trump is “keenly aware” that Democrats taking control of the House would be a problem for him, but Republican observers aren’t so sure:
"Nobody over there is interested in delivering really bad news to the President on a consistent basis," the GOP operative said, particularly when it comes to the potential for impeachment proceedings. "Like, 'hey, this could be a real thing. You shouldn't be so dismissive about it, because Chuck (Schumer) and Nancy (Pelosi) aren't your friends.'"
The thing is, there’s good reason to believe that a Trump who knew he risked impeachment would behave in exactly the same ways as a Trump who believed he was invulnerable. The man does not seem to have a whole lot of impulse control when it comes to lashing out at people. And, having defied the advice of so many political professionals in getting his popular-vote-losing ass into the White House, Trump may well continue to believe that he knows best and that one of the things he knows best is that fighting with his Republican allies makes him stronger. So would it make a big difference if top aides were sitting Trump down every day and lecturing him about the dangers of continuing on his current path? Not necessarily. And he’s got a year to keep making things worse for his party’s House chances.
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