GOP dilemma fuels Trump's bid for the White House job

Despite the multiple indictments unveiled against him, Donald Trump towers over the Republican field of contenders for the presidency

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WASHINGTON: When Senate leader Mitch McConnell rose to announce his vote to acquit Donald Trump of impeachment charges in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the Republican assured the public the former president would have his day in court.

"He didn't get away with anything yet yet," McConnell vowed. "We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one."

But as Trump prepared to appear on Thursday on federal charges that he orchestrated an unprecedented effort to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 election win, the Republican Party's 2024 front-runner for the White House faces no such dire warnings or recriminations from fellow Republicans.

It's a piercing silence that commands attention as Trump towers over the field of Republican contenders for the presidency. Gone are those who once stood up to Trump. Instead, the party Trump leads has essentially given up on criticising his actions, countering his impulses or putting a check on his accumulating power.

Scholars of authoritarian history warn it is a classic example of an eroding democracy.