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| Donald Trump |
From the size of the outrage in response to Donald Trump’s racist tweets telling four freshman congresswomen to “go back” to the “totally broken and crime infested places from which they came,” many expected dozens of Republicans to break from Trump and vote with House Democrats in their resolution condemning his words.
But that didn’t really happen.
Today, the Washington Post reports on how the White House kept those numbers low as Trump was apparently “obsessed” with the vote tally.
From the Washington Post:
The White House vote-counters initially feared as many as 50 Republicans might defect to support the resolution, and Trump ordered an all-hands White House effort to keep the GOP caucus together. White House aides told allies on the Hill that it was okay to criticize Trump, as long as they didn’t vote with Democrats.
Trump was obsessed with the vote tally and received regular briefings. Aides fed him a constant stream of lawmaker reactions and put him on the phone with several lawmakers. He told his team to tell any wafflers that he loves America and that they needed to pick sides. Trump called McCarthy to cancel an immigration meeting planned at the White House on Tuesday.
“Stay there and fight,” he told McCarthy.
Vice President Pence also worked the phones, telling Republican members not to fall for a Democratic trap.
In the end, only four Republicans broke ranks.
The Donald predictably tweeted this morning that the Post’s article is, of course, ‘Fake News.’
The Washington Post Story, about my speech in North Carolina and tweet, with its phony sources who do not exist, is Fake News. The only thing people were talking about is the record setting crowd and the tremendous enthusiasm, far greater than the Democrats. You’ll see in 2020!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 21, 2019
