Lara Trump Would Be Terrible for North Carolina, but Richard Burr Wasn't Great Either

From Esquire

One of the many frustrating consequences of the Trump administration is that it has warped our perception of Republicans so much that we now consider people like Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who was recently investigated by the Justice Department on insider trading charges, sympathetic figures. Having been born and raised in North Carolina, this deeply disturbs me. Over the course of his nearly 30-year career in the House and Senate, Burr has consistently voted for some of America’s worst ideas (the war in Iraq) and against some of its best (the Dodd Frank Act). He has a perfect score from the NRA for faithfully voting against gun control legislation. In fact, throughout his career in the Senate, Burr received more money from the NRA than almost any other senator.

In terms of his relationship with the former president, Burr may not be as outlandish or attention-grabbing as Sen. Cruz or Sen. Graham, but like them, he has spent the past four years employed as a happy foot soldier in Trump’s war against truth and decency. According to FiveThirtyEight, he voted with the president almost 90% of the time. Then, at the last minute, Burr miraculously sprouted a spine and voted to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection. Now the North Carolina GOP is poised to censure him as punishment. And to make matters worse for Burr and the North Carolinians he represents, the person most likely to run for his seat is Mr. Trump’s daughter-in-law and Eric’s wife, Lara Trump.

Lara Trump is a former personal trainer and television producer who currently lives in the New York City suburbs. Obviously she’s not qualified to be a U.S. Senator, but the threat of her running in the future shouldn’t cloud our judgement about the past. Sen. Burr was a Trump loyalist who survived a financial scandal by keeping a low profile. He is hardly representative of the swing state’s historical embrace of moderate candidates. While the GOP fights over its future identity, my hope is that North Carolinians will remember that we have, and indeed have often embraced, other options.

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