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As President Trump has been defying the rule of law and attempting to undermine democracy, his fellow Republicans in Congress have often been profiles in cowardice. They have meekly assented to the damage he is doing, afraid that confronting him might alienate Republican voters. They have put career over country.

But there has been one small way that congressional Republicans have been willing to break with Trump. Even as they have refused to hold him accountable via votes, hearings or investigations, they have occasionally spoken or tweeted some critical words about the president’s behavior. And while those words have been wholly insufficient to the moment, they have not been meaningless.

Perry Bacon Jr. and Julia Azari explain why in a FiveThirtyEight piece called, “GOP Criticism Of Trump Is All Talk — But It Still Matters.”