On Balance | Why holding Steve Bannon in criminal contempt may backfire on US Democrats
- The vote in the House of Representatives showed there will be no attempt by the Republicans to reconcile themselves with what Trump did on January 6
- The many steps ahead will offer Republicans numerous opportunities to spread misinformation
The American Democratic Party just handed its opponents another victory in the battle for control of the US government.
Largely along party lines, the vote showed us that there will be no attempt by the Republicans to reconcile themselves with what former US president Donald Trump did on January 6. Bannon is surely elated.
There are many steps ahead, including the House’s referral of the case to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, which would mean a trial that could drag on for who knows how long. Every step will be an opportunity for the new Republican Party to, as Bannon would say, “flood the zone with s***”.
Throughout, we will see this strategy at work. It’s effectiveness has allowed the party to all but snuff out its former identity – the one that let Richard Nixon know that they would not stand by him after the Watergate revelations.