Donald J. Trump wants to be the Republican presidential nominee for a third consecutive election. It’s interesting timing since Trump has never been weaker or more unhinged. This is partly because he’s bored, but more recently because his favored candidates — for House, Senate, and governor — lost last week.
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Well, except J.D. Vance running for Senate in a red state and finishing an astounding 18 points behind the incumbent Republican governor. Vance was saved only by Leader Mitch McConnell when Trump refused to spend his own money.
Even during the constant drama of his lone term in office, Trump never showed his current desperation or “hit” others first. Now, he’s launching churlish attacks on Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin — two successful governors who’ve never lost a race and wisely ignore the narcissist — because they present a superior alternative to him.
Before his conspiracy theories and aforementioned unprovoked slander, Trump’s first comments on election night were to celebrate Republican Joe O’Dea’s loss in Colorado; that unusual move is because Trump prefers that a Republican lose a Senate seat if that Republican isn’t a sycophant. His allegiance is to himself.
Trump is the Republican establishment now. He’s the default, the Man, the swamp. And he’s a loser. Republican voters must respond to last night’s profoundly disappointing midterm-election result by telling the new establishment to pound sand. https://t.co/NAY4YaFANl
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 9, 2022
Yes, there’s been just criticism of Democrats’ hypocrisy in pushing substandard MAGA candidates in the 2022 primaries. And the hypocrisy on the left will grow if they support Trump over GOP challengers, presuming he’s a losing bet in general.
Yet these risible candidates got nominated only because Trump handpicked them and his MAGA base supported them, despite their dubious electability.
One hopes the lesson has finally been learned that the 76-year-old is not the answer since he’s shown no proclivity to learn from his mistakes.
Recall that Trump didn’t win a majority in either of his presidential elections, and his average job approval rating during his presidency never approached 50%.
Trump won in 2016, courtesy of the unpopular Hillary Clinton and the Electoral College. Ultimately, he’s a plurality candidate with the advantage of running in races against the execrable Clinton and a feeble Joe Biden. And he still took only 46% of the vote both times.
Trump can’t stand seeing other Republicans succeed, so he’s declared he’s running two full years out and 15 long months before the primaries.
What happens next? Some courage, humility, and honesty would be great.
Those serving at high levels of Trump’s administration, the most pro-Trump voices in Washington and his media apparatus, seldom share their true feelings about him in public. These are not brave people. If you’re a money-hungry cable news hack or an ambitious bootlicker in a safe congressional district, it’s easier to fecklessly bash party leadership.
But seeking a clean break from the former president’s damaged reputation, right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch has now abandoned ship. Let’s hope his obsequious Fox News staff gets the memo.
In competitive House districts, Trump-endorsed Rs ran 7 pts worse than unendorsed, relative to expectations. Trumpy candidates cost the GOP much-needed seats, most likely including NC-13, OH-9, OH-13, PA-8, and WA-3. Maybe also MI-3, NH-1. Probably AK. https://t.co/EswljxQTBM
— Philip Wallach (@PhilipWallach) November 15, 2022
Sadly, Trump has odious grifters who won’t leave, making his political obituary premature until Republican voters reject his brand. Now would be a perfect time to start.
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Ari Kaufman is a correspondent for several U.S. newspapers and magazines from Minnesota and Ohio to Tennessee and Virginia. He taught school and served as a military historian before beginning his journalism career. The author of three books, he is also a frequent guest on radio programs and contributes to Israel National News and here at The Lid.
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