WHITE HOUSE – Even as Donald Trump faces the threat of lawsuits over his company’s business dealings and continues to be banned on social media platforms, the former president wields an outsized influence over the Republican Party.
Unlike most former presidents who stay out of the political limelight, Trump is still holding rallies, attacking President Joe Biden and amplifying what his critics call the “Big Lie” — the claim that Biden stole the 2020 election.
“We won the election twice,” is a refrain Trump often declares at his rallies and events.
While Gallup poll shows 62% of Americans disapproved of Trump in the last month he was in office, his core base of support has remained largely intact. This solid Republican base gives him power within the party, said Thomas Schwartz, who teaches politics at Vanderbilt University.
That power was in full display when House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met Trump at the former president’s Bedminster resort in New Jersey this week. The meeting took place as McCarthy was considering which Republican House members to appoint to a special committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that left five people dead and injured 140 police officers.
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