It’s All About Him

Created
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 08:30
Updated
Tue, 07/05/2024 - 08:30
Trump cares nothing for the party, only himself: You may have heard about this:  Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife were indicted last week on conspiracy and bribery charges. The Justice Department alleged that Cuellar took nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani government-controlled oil company and a Mexican bank. In return, prosecutors allege that Cuellar agreed to “influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan” and advance the bank’s interests in the U.S., per the indictment. You would think that would make Trump very happy and he’d be calling for Cuellar to resign immediately in order to help the GOP congress maintain their at least a two vote margin. (They only have one at the moment.) But no. Axios reports: Trump’s rare defense of a vulnerable Democratic lawmaker runs counter to Republicans’ desire to pressure Democrats to call for Cuellar’s removal. The National Republican Congressional Committee plans to accuse Democrats of a double standard if they stay mum on Cuellar following their pressure on ex-Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) to resign, Politico reports. Cuellar, who has denied wrongdoing, said that he still plans to run for re-election. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Trump endorse him. As Dave Weigel observes, the “law and order candidate” has a big soft spot for crooked politicians — except his rivals, of course (who aren’t actually criminals.) Since Feb. 2020, when Trump commuted the sentence of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Republican presidential nominee has shown support and empathy for Democrats convicted or charged with public corruption. Days before…