Senators are reluctantly recognizing their new reality: Denying Donald Trump the title of party frontrunner is no longer possible.
“Well, he has won the last three so yeah,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said when asked if he considers Trump the leader in the GOP primary.
Trump’s rise has sounded alarm bells on Capitol Hill for senators worried his nationalistic and nativist message could alienate minority voters from the party and affect down ballot Senate races in swing states like New Hampshire and Illinois.
“It’s a concern,” said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Flake added that Trump’s Nevada victory made it impossible for him to brush Trump off now.
“Let’s face it. That was a bigger win than we thought.”
Senators dismissed Trump’s rise as a fluke for months as they waited patiently for one of the more palatable candidates to rise in the polls, but now –with anti-Trump efforts showing stagnation and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio locked in their own bitter battle for second place–Republicans are realizing Trump could very well be the party standard bearer come this summer.
“I think he is getting close,” admitted Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
The other stark reality senators are coming up against is the fact there is nothing they can do about Trump’s success now.
“As much as I dislike what Trump stands for and how he runs his campaign, when he gets over 600 delegates … wouldn’t be fair to try to deny him the nomination,” Graham said.
Senators still express genuine shock as to the predicament they find themselves in.
“I’m stumped,” said Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
They wonder why voters became so incensed with a Republican majority in the Senate that they were willing to buck the entire system by supporting a candidate like Trump.
“Everything I thought I knew about politics is out the window,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said when asked to weigh in on Trump’s frontrunner status.
Others in the party blame members within their ranks for Trump’s rise.
“I think there are people who probably set unrealistic expectations about what could be accomplished in an era of divided government,” Thune said. “We had members who were out there trying to convince people across the country that all we had to do was wave the magic wand and we could repeal Obamacare like the president is going to repeal the bill that has his name on it.”
