Republicans Wonder How, And If, They Can Pull The Party Back Together

President Trump speaks to supporters on Jan. 6 before pro-Trump extremists launched a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump’s role in encouraging the siege over false claims of election fraud has hardened divisions in the party as he leaves office.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

In a matter of hours on Jan. 6, the Republican Party went from shrugging off its loss of the White House to a party in crisis.

It was becoming clear just before the violent insurrection at the Capitol that the party had lost two Senate runoff elections in Georgia, making President Trump the first president since Herbert Hoover whose party lost the White House, the House and the Senate in one term. And plenty of Republicans blamed Trump for the Democrats’ success in Georgia.

Trump’s own defeat means the GOP has failed to get a majority of votes in seven of the last eight presidential elections.