It’s now clear that Republican voters will not give up on their hero, Donald Trump, under any circumstances, no matter how vile his behavior, no matter how many times he is indicted. The worse it gets, the more loyal they become. Republicans only represent about a quarter of the electorate, but the fact that the latest poll of polls shows 59% of GOP voters still support him as the party’s 2024 presidential nominee is still frightening. (The fact that he is tied with Biden in national polls is even more frightening!) It’s painfully obvious that Trump is the embodiment of MAGA hatred, anger, and fear, none of which are going away anytime soon.
Hiding among this MAGA stereotype is the Republican donor class, especially a cadre of right-wing billionaires, along with some aging Reagan/Bush Republicans who feel threatened by everything that’s happened in the world since the civil rights movement of the 1960s and think Trump was good for their investment accounts. The whole motley crew is at war with economic and social equality (democracy and the rule of law are just collateral damage), either because they’re desperate to hang on to their fleeting white privilege or because their shortsighted greed knows no bounds. As I’ve said before, they want every dollar on the Monopoly board, their fellow citizens be damned.
“Trump is the chosen candidate of reactionary billionaires and fanatical opponents of racial and gender equality for a reason. Strip away the thin veneer of “populism,” and what you have in the Trumpified Republican Party is an old-fashioned movement to restrain democratic self-government for the sake of capital and hierarchy. . . It is not that Trump and the Republican Party are opposed to voting and elected office in and of themselves; it’s that they are opposed to a more equitable distribution of wealth and status, which a robust democracy — and only a robust democracy — makes possible. They are opposed to anything that might undermine the domination over others by people like themselves.”
Jamelle Bouie in the New York Times, 9/9/22
The question remains as to why Trump’s GOP challengers steadfastly refuse to attack his dismal record in office, including:
- His disastrous handling of the Covid pandemic.
- His fraudulent “middle class tax cut” that lowered taxes for big business and the wealthy.
- He only completed a tiny portion of his border wall (and Mexico didn’t pay for it).
- “Infrastructure week” became a running joke while America crumbled.
- He never replaced Obama Care with something better, as he promised.
- His trade war with China did more harm than good.
And of course:
- Using his office to enrich himself and his family (Jared getting $2b from the Saudis, etc.)
The endless stoking of bigotry and racist hatred surely belongs at the top of the list, but since MAGAs consider that behavior to be among Trump’s most endearing qualities, for the sake of the argument let’s leave them off for now.
Trump’s GOP Challengers Would Rather Die Than Expose His Record.
Never mind his attempted coup or any of his other crimes (what a mockery of “innocent until proven guilty”!), just looking at the record it’s hard to understand why MAGAs want Trump back. We know Trump’s challengers fear incurring his wrath, but if they can’t make a case for why he should be replaced, why should anyone, let along the MAGA faithful, be persuaded to change their allegiance? Okay, maybe the Republican donor class doesn’t want to give up its tax cuts, but would they really care if Trump were attacked for some of his other failures?
Trump’s GOP challengers are a bunch of weak cowards whose incompetent campaigns reinforce the ridiculous myth that he was a great president; they’re campaigning for the VP slot, a cabinet post, or a head start in 2028, none of which will save the country from another four years of Donald Trump.