In a Twitter thread posted on Sunday night, Carl Bernstein–half of the iconic Washington Post reporting team that pursued President Richard Nixon’s wrongdoing in the 1970s–named 21 sitting Republican senators whom he claims have “expressed extreme contempt for Trump and his fitness to be POTUS.”
He says that, despite their private misgivings about the president, the senators in question have either continued to publicly support him or have simply remained silent, even as he appears to deny the outcome of the November election.
“Craven [Republican] silence is now enabling a Mad King in the final days of his reign to scorch the earth of this country and bring down the whole system,” Bernstein writes.
With few exceptions, their craven public silence has helped enable Trump’s most grievous conduct—including undermining and discrediting the US the electoral system.
More from my appearance earlier on @cnn: https://t.co/c1jZXMR0Pv (3/3)
— Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
The 21 senators that Bernstein accuses of harboring concerns about the president which they have either not forcefully shared publicly are:
Lamar Alexander (Tennessee)
Mike Braun (Indiana)
Roy Blunt (Missouri)
Richard Burr (North Carolina)
Susan Collins (Maine)
John Cornyn (Texas)
Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Martha McSally (Arizona)
Jerry Moran (Kansas)
Rob Portman (Ohio)
Pat Roberts (Kansas)
Mitt Romney (Utah)
Marco Rubio (Florida)
Ben Sasse (Nebraska)
Rick Scott (Florida)
Tim Scott (South Carolina)
Richard Shelby (Alabama)
John Thune (South Dakota)
Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
Todd Young (Indiana)
Of that group, Senators Romney, Rubio, Murkowski, Toomey, and Collins have all clearly acknowledged Joe Biden’s electoral victory in public statements.
RELATED: Phoebe Bridgers Promised to Cover the Goo Goo Dolls If Trump Lost. He Did, and the Song Is Here
Stay on top of the latest in L.A. food and culture. Sign up for our newsletters today.