On Thursday (August 25), during an episode of Bari Weiss’ podcast “Honestly,” Trump-era Attorney General Bill Barr painted former President Donald Trump in an unflattering light, claiming that Trump was a man who relied on “sabotage” and “extortion” to get retain his influence in the GOP.
More than 19 months after Trump exited the White House, the former President still wields significant influence, which Barr has chalked up to Trump’s self-centered leadership style.
Barr, who served in his role as Attorney General under Trump for two years, criticized the former President for calling members within his party “RINOs,” an acronym for a phrase he coined: “Republican in Name Only.”
Barr expressed his belief that no conservative was a RINO and that Trump made these claims to purge the GOP of those he didn’t like.
Bart stated, “The idea that there are RINOs, people that really don’t support Republican principles, is simply not true,” adding, “What the president is defining as RINOs are people who are true blue Republicans and conservatives but who just have a problem with Trump personally.”
Barr, who has been on the receiving end of Trump’s criticism before, shared his thoughts that Trump only has a hold on a minority of the GOP — about a third of the party — but that his power primarily came from a willingness to sabotage those who disagree with his agenda.
Barr referenced the 2020 Presidential elections, saying that Trump wasn’t only willing to sabotage a presidential election but state elections as well, saying, “This pursuit of a personal agenda and personal power is weakening the Republican Party at a time when it could have a historic victory and make historic progress in ‘making America great again.'”
