NPR's Rachel Martin talks to conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, about what the failed California recall election means for the momentum of the Republican party.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: ...Larry Elder was making claims of voter fraud in the days before the election. He did walk it back a little bit in his concession speech. But still, what are the implications of this line coming over and over again from the GOP?
GOLDBERG: It's suicidal. And we even saw going into the final home stretch of the recall, Donald Trump was talking about how the system was already rigged, the election had already been stolen. It's dishonest. It's a lie. But it's also just sand-poundingly stupid politics to tell your most ardent voters there's no point in showing up because the system is already rigged against you. But the fact that this is what so many of the base of the Republican Party want to hear, even though it is not in the political self-interest of the party, is a great example of the larger dysfunction that the Republican Party has got itself caught up in.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: ...Larry Elder was making claims of voter fraud in the days before the election. He did walk it back a little bit in his concession speech. But still, what are the implications of this line coming over and over again from the GOP?
GOLDBERG: It's suicidal. And we even saw going into the final home stretch of the recall, Donald Trump was talking about how the system was already rigged, the election had already been stolen. It's dishonest. It's a lie. But it's also just sand-poundingly stupid politics to tell your most ardent voters there's no point in showing up because the system is already rigged against you. But the fact that this is what so many of the base of the Republican Party want to hear, even though it is not in the political self-interest of the party, is a great example of the larger dysfunction that the Republican Party has got itself caught up in.
MARTIN: The House investigation into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is going on right now, despite efforts by GOP leaders to undermine it. When you talk about the built-in political price that the GOP will suffer for pushing this line about voter fraud when there isn't any, what about undermining the House investigation into an attack on the U.S. Capitol? I mean, is that something that the party will pay a price for in the midterms? Or does it not move Republican voters at this point?...Read all.
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