<
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/27/republicans-trump-threats>
"Republicans on Capitol Hill are shying away from criticizing Donald Trump’s
policies over fears for their physical safety and that of their families, a
Democratic member of Congress has said.
Eric Swalwell, a Democratic representative from California, said his Republican
colleagues were “terrified” of crossing Trump not only because of the negative
impact on their political careers, but also from anxiety that it might provoke
physical threats that could cause personal upheaval and require them to hire
round-the-clock security as protection.
Swalwell’s comments came in a webinar chaired by the journalist Sidney
Blumenthal in response to a question on whether Republicans might be driven to
rebel against or even impeach Trump.
“I have a lot of friends who are Republicans,” he said. “They are terrified of
being the tallest poppy in the field, and it’s not as simple as being afraid of
being primaried and losing their job. They know that that can happen.
“It’s more more personal. It’s their personal safety that they’re afraid of,
and they have spouses and family members saying, ‘Do not do this, it’s not
worth it, it will change our lives forever. We will have to hire
around-the-clock security.’ Life can be very uncomfortable for your children.
“That is real, because when [Elon] Musk [Trump’s most powerful ally] tweets at
somebody, or Trump tweets at somebody, or calls somebody out, their lives are
turned upside down.
“When he tweets at you, people make threats, and you have to take people at
their word. And so that is a real thing that my colleagues struggle with.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
