Even as Biden is inaugurated, Maine GOP doubles down on Trumpism

As many of us were watching the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, perhaps listening to youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman speak of “striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man,” the chair of the Maine Republican Party was preparing an email with some very different themes.

On the afternoon of the inauguration, a note arrived in the inboxes of those of us subscribed to the Maine GOP email list with the subject “Let’s take Maine and America BACK.”

Demi Kouzounas, the same GOP chair who has been spreading conspiracy theories about the election results and COVID-19, made clear that in her mind no unity is possible, doubling down on some of the worst rhetoric of former President Donald Trump and making clear that his dangerous political legacy didn’t end as his plane flew south to Florida.

In the email, the same state party whose vice chair cheered the insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month on social media accused Democrats of staging “destructive ‘protests’.”

Without an ounce of irony or an iota of introspection, Kouzounas accused her political opponents of representing a “radical” faction and “creating false narratives.”

She didn’t mention the new president once, but did single out three Democrats, railing against “the likes of AOC, Rep. Omar, and Vice President Kamala Harris.”

I wonder what it could be that those three have in common.

Kouzounas ended her email with praise for Sen. Susan Collins, a fundraising pitch for Will Guerette, their candidate in the Senate District 14 special election, and the admonition that “we must fight the Democrats at every turn!” in order to “save our country.”

The radical, violent, racist politics practiced by today’s Republican Party won’t end with Trump, just as they didn’t end in Maine when former Governor Paul LePage left office. They won’t even take a day off.

Those of us who seek to forge a union with purpose can’t either.

Maine GOP Chair Demi Kouzounas speaking at a Republican event | Official photo