IMO, that’s a dumb talking point you got baited on. No republican actually thought that. And if they did they could put their money where their mouth is like Romney did.
Again, I know how you feel about the media, and it's cool. I'm not exactly a huge fan either.
But it keeps being reported by news outlets on both sides of the aisle. Which yes, I do read--that's how you keep some perspective. Of course, every story is slanted based on the storyteller.
It's like Adam Gase. If I read a Manish story about Gase, I'm going to jump on "anonymous quotes" that paint him in a dislikable light. Someone else, Heismanberg for example, is going to say "freak Manish, stop reading his bullshit."
Neither of us is totally right or wrong. Manish almost certainly has a source inside the org that said whatever he quoted. But given his attitude towards Gase, he's going to make mountains out of molehills.
It's no different from stories about Washington. WaPo's take on a Trump story is going to be vastly different than FOX News' take. But if both tell a story containing the same nuggets of info, i.e. Republican Senators being surprised at Trump's behavior post-impeachment, the chances are, there are actually GOP Senators who are surprised.
I read this morning that some GOP members are now surprised/worried about Trump trying to expand his war powers for Iran. Was I baited? FTR, I got that story from a right-slanted media outlet.