GOP Is Energized, but ‘Trump Cancel Culture’ Poses a Threat

On Nov 21, 2021

Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, left, with Gov. Bill Lee, of Tennessee, Gov. Brian Kemp, of Georgia, Gov. Mark Gordon, of Wyoming, Gov. Kay Ivey, of Alabama, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, of Alaska and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, during the Republican Governors Association meeting in Phoenix on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. (Caitlin O'Hara for The New York Times) — Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, left, with Gov. Bill Lee, of Tennessee, Gov. Brian Kemp, of Georgia, Gov. Mark Gordon, of Wyoming, Gov. Kay Ivey, of Alabama, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, of Alaska and Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio, during the Republican Governors Association meeting in Phoenix on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. (Caitlin O’Hara for The New York Times)

PHOENIX — As the country’s Republican governors met this week, there was an unmistakable air of celebration in the conference rooms and cocktail parties marking their annual postelection conference. Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin of Virginia was swarmed with well wishers and favor seekers who believed his victory in a liberal-leaning state offered the party a road map for next year’s midterm elections.

Out of earshot of the reporters and donors congregating amid the palm trees and cactuses of the Arizona Biltmore resort, however, a more sober, less triumphant and all-too-familiar conversation was taking place among the governors: What could be done about Donald Trump?

In a private meeting of the Republican Governors Association’s executive committee, Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland brought up Trump’s campaign of retribution against incumbent Republicans he dislikes — an effort that appears to be escalating, as the former president pushes former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia to challenge Gov. Brian Kemp.

“It’s outrageous, unacceptable and bad for the party,” Hogan said in an interview about the former president’s intervention, which he termed “Trump cancel culture.” And it’s happening, he added, “with House members, governors and senators.”

Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, chairman of the association, assured his fellow governors that the RGA would support Republican incumbents, according to several governors in the room.

One year after his defeat, Trump is not only still looming over the GOP, but also — along with his imitators — posing the biggest threat to what is shaping up to be a fruitful year for Republican candidates. With President Joe Biden’s approval ratings mired below 50% — in some surveys, below 40% — and voters in a sour mood, Republicans are well positioned to make gains in Congress and statehouses across the country.

But there is Trump, threatening primary challenges to some House Republicans in key swing districts, endorsing Senate candidates who make party leaders uneasy and recruiting loyalists to take out Republican governors from Idaho to Georgia.

Youngkin’s success in a campaign in which his Democratic opponent relentlessly linked him to Trump has emboldened the former president to further tighten his grip on the party, one whose base remains deeply loyal to him.

Moving beyond the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him this year, Trump is now threatening to unseat lawmakers who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill. He taunts Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell as an…