'I would speak out vigorously!' Republicans who once decried IRS weaponization now silent

Republicans who once had their hair on fire over the use of the IRS as a political weapon are completely silent as Trump is openly doing just that, longtime Republican pollster Sarah Longwell noted in a thread posted to X on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump is moving to revoke the tax-exempt status of Harvard University in retaliation for the institution refusing to change its hiring practices and other policies in line with Trump's rescission of research funding. Trump made similar threats against Columbia University, which ultimately bowed to his political demands.

But Longwell noted that last decade, Republicans stamped their feet and vowed to raise hell when it was alleged, ultimately incorrectly, that the IRS under former President Barack Obama was targeting conservative groups for tax-exempt status review based on their politics.

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"Because Republicans believed the IRS under Obama was targeting conservative groups, there are tons of clips of R elected officials passionately arguing that the government targeting the tax exempt status of groups because of their political beliefs is un-American and illegal. FYI," wrote Longwell, who is widely known for her focus groups seeking to get a finger on the pulse of what Trump voters are thinking.

For instance, she noted, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) proclaimed that the IRS targeting political adversaries is "as wrong as things can be in this country."

Vice President JD Vance, at the time not in political office, told Fox News' Laura Ingraham, "This is about whether we have functional constitutional government in this country. If the IRS can go after you because of what you think or what you believe or what you do, we'd no longer live in a free country.“

Then there was Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who, Longwell showed in a brief clip, said, "I can also assure you that were this a Republican president, a Republican Attorney General, and a Republican IRS that were targeting Democrats, I at least would speak out just as vigorously against it because if we are going to respect rule of law, the apparatus of the federal government cannot and should not be used as a partisan tool to bludgeon your enemies."

She ended with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who, when he was serving as the senator for Florida, had a similar message.

"Great news folks. @SecRubio will not stand for the federal government or its agencies targeting institutions or organizations because of their political beliefs. That’s third-world stuff that can’t be allowed to happen here. You still believe all this, @marcorubio, right? Right?"