Trump stepping back? That's not going to happen
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Welcome to the resistance, Republicans.
After the midterm elections, the red wave that wasn't, many of you seem to have accepted the fact that Donald Trump is a noisy albatross around your party's neck and also ... how can I put this nicely? ... the worst.
It took y'all about six years to catch up, but I'm glad you're here. So now the question is: How do you extract this inflamed molar from your party's mouth? Especially when the molar in question appears poised to announce next Tuesday that he's running for president again.
Watching you all try to shake loose of Trump is going to be like watching a drunk wildebeest flailing to fight off a rabid honey badger.
Once in thrall to the man from Mar-a-Lago, you Republicans have now had your Fox-News-blown bubble popped.
After the election wipeout, the website for conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch's New York Post had the mocking headline "Trumpty Dumpty."The Drudge Report's page blasted the headline: "TOXIC TRUMP IN MAGA MELTDOWN."
Scott Jennings, a former deputy to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, tweeted 1:45 a.m. Wednesday: "How could you look at these results tonight and conclude Trump has any chance of winning a national election in 2024?"
Geoff Duncan, Georgia's Republican lieutenant governor, told CNN that Trump would be a drag on the GOP's hopes to get Herschel Walker to win the state's U.S. Senate runoff, saying: "I can't imagine anybody would think Donald Trump would be a tailwind to Herschel Walker's campaign in a runoff scenario."
It's like the entire Republican Party woke up and realized the monster it went to bed with is, in fact, a monster, and started looking for a way to hop out of bed without him ripping the whole party apart.
It's not going to happen. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dominated the vote and helped turn the state red as a clown's nose, is the guy you're all pining for now, so what did Trump do? He nicknamed him "Ron DeSanctimonious" and then suggested he has dirt on the governor that he might let slip should DeSantis run against him.
Do you think Trump – Donald freakin' Trump – is going to quietly step aside, forget his ludicrous crusade against a "stolen election" and let an uncharismatic drip like DeSantis take his King-of-the-Republicans crown?
Not gonna happen. Your party made a Faustian bargain with a real estate huckster in exchange for a four-year spurt of executive power and a conservative U.S. Supreme Court. One doesn't generally walk away from such a bargain fully intact.
And why would Trump want to walk away? He has a cult-like following he grifts daily with scammy emails and overpriced "MAGA" gear. He could tell his faithful followers to walk naked into a lake filled with piranhas and they would do it holding signs that read: "FISH BITES 4 FREEDOM! #MAGA"
Trump's not going to give that up, and even if he did, do you think that riled-up base of voters would just start slavishly following someone like DeSantis? Say what you want about Trump – and I have said A LOT – but he has a bullying charm that appeals to certain people.
DeSantis has the visceral appeal of a grumpy rutabaga. The morale among cult members would drop precipitously.
So, my newfound Republican friends, here are your unenviable options:
1) Dump Trump and go all-in with DeSantis as a presidential primary candidate. Trump would likely still enter the primary and verbally disembowel the Florida governor, either beating him outright or weakening him so much he's dead meat in the general election. Or Trump might walk away and launch an independent bid, taking his base with him and splitting Republican voters into two useless blocs.
2) Continue coddling Trump and let the GOP primary play out, which would produce the same outcome as option No. 1.
3) Attempt to con Trump into standing down and playing the role of "elder GOP statesman," possibly by offering to pay his legal bills and promising to constantly kiss up to him. He would go along with this for a bit, until Republican fawning over DeSantis became too much and his need to be the alpha male overrode whatever promises he had made. Chaos would ensue, and the party would be fractured.
4) Stick with Trump and encourage DeSantis to wait for the 2028 election. Given that Trump hurt the GOP badly in the 2018 midterms, lost the 2020 presidential election and again hurt Republicans in this year's midterms, he will be an electoral disaster. He'll keep prattling on about a stolen election and his cruelty and divisiveness, now known commodities, will doom GOP hopes to win the White House and further tarnish the party's image.
There is no winning scenario. To survive and attempt to rebuild its image – an image voters clearly rejected in the election that ended Tuesday night – the Republican Party needs to get past Trump.
But if you think he's going to let that happen without a tumultuous fight, you haven't been paying attention to Donald Trump. That guy is THE WORST.
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An NBC reporter just said on Meet The Press that Trump is personally going over the placards for his announcement rally on Tuesday. He's running.
And the GOP has no idea what to do next.
Who knows John, strange things happen. I recall a president who was worried about the coming election and travelled to Dallas Texas. I recall another who ran as a candidate for the Independent Party and found himself campaigning in Laurel MD. Then of course, there is all that pressure on Merrick Garland.
Donald Trump is a terrible, terrible human being. Just a conglomeration of all the worst human traits with no redeeming value. We have been warning conservatives for years and years that he is a piece of shit, he is not widely or well liked, and he cares ONLY about himself.
Trump has never cared about the GOP, his supporters, or the country. It is all about him and will only ever be about him in his mind. If anyone runs against him in the primary he will tear them down as much as he can, and if someone wins the nomination over him he will run as a third party candidate just to make the GOP nominee lose as a “fuck you” to the candidate and GOP as a whole. He will burn the entire thing down because he is a spiteful, hate filled prick. But hey, conservatives asked for this.
A lot more than once.
Prediction: If Trump runs, no MAGA leaning Republican is going to challenge him and he will be the Republican nominee.
You would be wrong. His deluded base of hard core deniers is not getting any larger
I'm confident that I am correct although time will tell. Whether his deluded base is getting larger or not is irrelevant. Name one MAGA leaning Republican who is going to challenge Trump. Or, for that matter, name one Republican who has any potential to win the nomination who is going run.
I think DeSantis will challenge Trump.
I think he won't. Why risk his career? Trump will try to destroy him if he runs and stick the knife in him if he wins. The Trump cultists will hate him. DeSantis is only 44 so he has plenty of time. That said, he may calculate (or miscalculate) that he is riding a wave of popularity and seek to take advantage of that.
If he thinks he can win the GoP nomination, why would he not run?
I think a lot of this depends upon what happens with Trump support given the midterm GoP disappointments. It will only decrease, but it is hard to say how quickly and by how much. Some will support Trump no matter what ... one can see that in this forum alone.
Do you think the calculation for DeSantis is whether he can win the nomination or win the presidency? He may decide that he can win the nomination and then worry about the presidential contest, or feel that the possibilty of prevailing in both is worth proceeding, or maybe he is under the misapprehension that he has a lock on both.
Will Trump do whatever he can to destroy DeSantis if DeSantis beats him? I believe so.
Will the Trump base follow Trump's lead. That is the big question, isn't it?
I think he, like every other candidate, will be motivated to run if he believes he can win the nomination. I doubt that anyone who believes they can win the nomination doubts they have a good chance to win the presidency. Hell, with Trump having won the presidency, why would anyone doubt themselves? Truly, anything is possible nowadays.
I fully agree. Trump has already started badmouthing and threatening DeSantis.
Some will and some will not. I would not hazard a guess on the percentages.
TODAY, two prominent Republicans were asked on Sunday morning news programs if they would support Trump in 2024 if he were the Republican nominee.
Neither Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana or Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampsihre said they would withhold support from Trump should he be the GOP nominee.
They arent going to turn their back on Trump until the base does.
Agreed; that is the dynamic that has kept Trump relevant ... perceived liability by politicians because of the number of GoP voters still supporting Trump. To wit, it is those who support Trump who are the primary problem. Without said support, Trump would be irrelevant.
A better question would have been, if he runs, would they support him in the primaries.
In a way, maybe. What the question they were asked does is show how committed (or not) these GOP politicians are to opposing Trump no matter what. The answer is - not much.
Republicans need go all in on getting rid of Trump starting NOW
A day late and a dollar short.
Yup. They were told that they were destroying the GOP. And yet they persisted.
Trump step back? Can't happen. There is nowhere to go. If it isn't about him it isn't about anything. The, "I'm like a really smart guy," dude continues to play his cards without a full deck. That is all he knows. That is all he can do. He's got the MAGA but the MAGA don't know and don't know that they don't know. At least that base is covered.
If your thesis is that Trump will never admit that he was wrong then I agree with you.
No. My thesis is that 'the Trump' will never admit.
What is the difference between’Trump’ and ‘the Trump’?
He is a 'brand' and nothing more.
That does not answer my question. What do you mean by 'Trump' and then what different meaning do you hold for 'the Trump'?
You don't know what a brand is?
Yeah I know what a brand is. I know that there is a Trump brand and I know that there is an individual known as Trump.
So are you trying to say that your thesis is that the Trump brand will never admit 'he' was wrong? And thus, implicitly by your distinction, that Trump himself WOULD admit he was wrong?
No, no and no. The Trump is a brand. And he will never admit.
n e v e r m i n d
The Republican party unleashed a monster that will become its worst enemy. He has already proven that to be their fate. So be it.
Republican party unleashed nothing. The Trump was 'cultured' out of St. Petersburg, Russian Federation.
They unleashed him when they nominated him to be their candidate for the 2016 election.
Word is Trump begged Ivanka and Jared to work for his upcoming campaign, including being on stage with him tomorrow night, and they told him no.
Don Jrs girlfriend and Erics wife are all in though, if that rings your bell.
When was Trump last in Chicago, why would they know what the word is?
your comment makes no sense.