“Well, we all know from past experience that Donald Trump doesn’t care about anyone but Donald Trump,” Kurt Bardella, a former GOP senior adviser on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told MSNBC on Saturday. Representatives. “So it doesn’t surprise me that when he faces criticism that is intensifying right now, after the January 6 hearings, he’s thinking of pulling the trigger now,” he added. Bardella, now a Democrat, said he welcomed the idea of Trump announcing his presidential bid, hinting that he could “detonate the Republican party before November.” Bardella’s comments came amid speculation that Trump is considering declaring his 2024 candidacy early in an effort to head off a wave of criticism against him following damning testimony from witnesses called by the Jan. 6 committee to investigate the Capitol riot. . Some Republicans, however, worry that an early announcement from Trump could hurt the GOP in the upcoming midterm elections. Sources close to Trump told CBS that no final decision has been made on whether or not he will run, nor when he will announce. There has also been speculation that Trump may face obstruction of justice charges after Rep. Liz Cheney, the GOP vice chair of the Jan. 6 panel, presented evidence that the Trump camp may have engaged in witness tampering. Bardella said it would be typical of Trump not to consider how his actions might affect his party. “At the end of the day, he’s going to do whatever he wants. He’s shown that time and time again, this guy has the impulse control of a freaked-out little kid,” he said, adding that Trump was the “golem” that created the GOP. . Bardella added that, behind the scenes, Republicans who want to “get away from Donald Trump” were likely “rooting for the January 6 committee.” “These guys have been wanting to get rid of Donald Trump for the last five years,” he said. “They lacked the courage, the ability, the guts to actually do it.” Since 2021, Trump has teased a presidential run several times. In January, a video surfaced showing Trump calling himself the “45th and 47th president.”
