Our U.S. Rep. Peter Stauber was absolutely correct last week in stating that former President Donald Trump “supported domestic mining and manufacturing jobs” during his presidency, in particular here in Minnesota and in the Northland. With pretty much any other candidate, that would be enough to earn Stauber’s support for a Trump reelection bid.
But the former president is far from any other candidate, as we all know. His support for mining — the industry at the heart of Northeastern Minnesota’s economy, heritage, and identity — is unfortunately only a very small part of what is otherwise a largely troubling record of dishonesty, misogyny, narcissism, and worse.
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So it was disturbing and concerning last week to see Stauber, of Hermantown, and others from Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation continuing to support Trump and offering him their blanket endorsement for his run to return to the White House. The endorsement completely ignored — or dismissed — that the former president is currently facing four indictments and 91 felony counts across state and federal courts. And those very serious legal tangles are just the latest in years of cringey comments and actions that disqualify Trump from ever returning to any public office, much less the presidency.
No, Trump hasn’t been found guilty of anything — yet. But there’s no reason to wait for legal proceedings to play out for Stauber and others to find another fellow, more character-worthy Republican to get behind. By endorsing early, Stauber and other GOPers risk the political awkwardness or worse of having to walk back support they shouldn’t have offered in the first place.
And it is early. The first Republican primary isn’t until March. Minnesota’s primary is more than a month and a half from now, on March 5.
Stauber and fellow Minnesota Republican Reps. Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, and Michelle Fischbach all offered their endorsement for Trump at the same time on Wednesday, Jan. 3, suggesting a troubling unwillingness to think and act independently and to make their own determinations about who their party’s nominee should be, about who would best represent them this fall.
Trump’s inaccurate claims about the last presidential election and the reality that he played any role at all in the attempt to overturn its legitimate result — he certainly didn’t try to stop the attack on our democracy, on the will of voters, and on our nation’s Capitol — is reason enough reason for deciding for oneself rather than following what the party hive mind seems to be dictating.
In addition to disputing legitimate election results just because he didn’t like them and repeatedly referring to the election as “rigged,” without any evidence whatsoever, Trump has accused opponents of treason, also without evidence. He has praised and encouraged attacks on news reporters. He once retweeted a “white power” video. And the list of egregious actions and statements goes on and on, stretching back years.
In spite of all of that, perhaps fearing political backlash if he didn’t, Stauber has unwaveringly stood with Trump. Not only politically but literally, beginning in 2018 when the then-president traveled to Duluth and hosted a rally in support of Stauber’s bid for the 8th Congressional District. Two years later, Stauber rode aboard Air Force One with Trump for a rally at Duluth International Airport.
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What will it take for Stauber to finally distance himself? Will he ever? Trump’s actions long ago demanded Stauber and other supporters drop their backing. How about if Trump is found guilty of any of the 91 charges against him for trying to overturn election results, for obstructing an investigation by taking classified documents, or for hush-money payments to a porn star?
There was a time, not long ago, when such allegations and charges would have been politically damning — political suicide even — and certainly disqualifying. No matter where we are as a nation in looking the other way, it’s a lot to dismiss. It’s too much to ignore, no matter how friendly to mining Trump was during his embattled four years in office.
The Trust Project
