The Point: Why Republicans won't walk away from the 'Big Lie'

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May 6, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

Why Republicans won't walk away from the 'Big Lie'

There was an exchange Thursday between Fox News' John Roberts and Texas Rep. Kevin Brady that is remarkably telling about just how lost the Republican Party is at the moment.

Here it is:

Roberts: "President Donald Trump says the 'Big Lie' was the results of the 2020 election. Liz Cheney says, no, the 'Big Lie' was suggesting that the 2020 election was stolen. Between the two of them, who is right?"

Brady: "I'll leave that dispute to them."

Um, WHAT?

So Brady, who, not for nothing, has already announced he is retiring at the end of this Congress and therefore has nothing left to fear from former President Trump, still can't bring himself to answer that very simple question about the election?

Like, here's all he needed to say: I wanted Trump to win -- campaigned for him and voted for him. But every objective review of the results and all of the various legal challenges brought in the aftermath of the election make clear that Joe Biden won and Donald Trump lost.

See, because it's NOT a 50-50 coin flip! This is not a some-people-say-the-2020-election-was-stolen-while-others-say-it-wasn't thing!

Facts say the election was won fair and square by Biden. Conspiracy theorists -- and the former President of the United States! -- say that there were all sorts of nefarious things going on.

One of these is true! The other is wholly false!

Brady, of course, knows this. He, unlike some of his more newly elected GOP colleagues (*cough* Marjorie Taylor Greene *cough*), has been around Washington and politics long enough to understand that there is nothing to Trump's claims of election fraud -- no matter how often and how loudly the former President repeats them.

Which, if you think about it, actually makes what Brady is doing worse. He KNOWS what the "Big Lie" is, he just doesn't want to say it because he's afraid it will get him crosswise with Trump and his most hardcore followers.

The Point: Political courage is in short supply among Republican elected officials these days. Very short supply.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I'm not ready to have another period where America has another infrastructure month, and doesn't change a damn thing."

-- President Biden made the case for his $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs package while in Louisiana, citing a Trump-era in-joke about an "infrastructure week" that never actually happened.

A FAITHFUL HELLO

After arriving at Chennault International Airport in Lake Charles, Louisiana, President Biden was greeted by Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards -- and the two compared pocket rosaries, according to the pool report. C-SPAN's cameras captured the exchange too.

Biden is only the second Catholic president in American history (after JFK) and deeply devout. He regularly wears his late son Beau's rosary on his wrist.

Per a new account about the Obama administration's raid to kill Osama bin Laden 10 years ago, Biden had rosary beads wrapped around his fingers during the operation, according to White House photographer Pete Souza.

TWEETS OF THE DAY

1. Why people don't want to get vaccinated

2. Good ole Ron DeSantis

3. We are all Rep. Ruben Gallego

4. This bear gets it

5. How William "The Refrigerator" Perry changed a life

6. Willie Mays is 90 today. And he still made the best catch of all time.

CHRIS' GOOD READS

Chris Ruddy, the head of Newsmax, was one of the most prominent backers of President Donald Trump. The Washington Post asks, "Now what"?

And there's some blowback within Fox News for Tucker Carlson's anti-vax crusade, reports CNN's Brian Stelter.

I really liked this New York Times essay on how much trouble Gavin Newsom is in. And this Mark Z. Barabak article in the LA Times on w hat the Texas 6th special election means for the party more broadly.

This NY Times piece on the race to find lithium to power electric car batteries is something else.

Eating cicadas? Nah, bro. Eating poutine? Maybe. ...

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

You may know Jenn Wasner from her band Wye Oak or from her work with Bon Iver. But her solo work -- as "Flock of Dimes" -- is VERY much worth listening to. Her second solo album, "Head of Roses," came out last month.

READING BETWEEN THE LINES

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney refuses to stop criticizing former President Trump, and House Republicans have had enough.

Chris explains why Cheney's days in leadership are numbered and what this ousting means for the GOP as a whole.

Stick with The Point on YouTube and subscribe!

ONE BIG POLICY CHANGE

The US Army announced a change to its policy on Thursday by allowing female soldiers to wear ponytails in all uniforms. A grooming policy review was ordered last year by then-acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in an effort to address race and inequality in the military.

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