Republican leaders finally admit Donald Trump is destroying their chances
One of the weirdest aspects of the previous four years was how often the leading pro-Trump and anti-Trump pundits were pushing the same ridiculous narrative that Donald Trump knew exactly what he was doing and that he had us right where he wanted us.
Of course this was never once the case during the entire four years, as Trump was flailing cluelessly the entire time, and never could get his approval rating anywhere close to the range that would have been required to get him a second term. Now he’s marooned, irrelevant, and pulling down everyone around him in the name of desperately trying to keep himself afloat.
Far too many liberal pundits are still pushing the narrative that Trump finally has us right where he wants us, as if fretting over a destroyed opponent’s imaginary magical comeback somehow means you’re being “vigilant.” Strangely, it’s the other side that’s finally starting to admit that Trump is burnt toast – if only because he’s causing such problems for their side, they can’t help but complain.
For instance, unnamed Republican leaders are now admitting to major newspapers that they’re “frustrated” and “worried” about how badly Trump’s ongoing personal implosion is screwing up the party’s 2022 agenda. One major Republican pollster thinks Trump’s pity party is going to cost the GOP the midterm elections.
Yet even as the GOP sounds the alarm about how it’s chained to Trump’s sinking carcass, it can’t figure out what to do about it. Liz Cheney is daring to say what every other House Republican knows, which is that unless they kick Trump’s ghost to the curb, their party will continue to be defined by Trump’s broadly unpopular sore-loser agenda. But the rest of the party is afraid of what will happen if they alienate what’s left of Trump’s base, and so instead of ditching Trump, they’re ditching Cheney. It’s a no-win for the GOP either way.
Donald Trump isn’t just finished, he’s dragging down those who are still tied to him. It’ll get even worse once he’s inevitably criminally indicted, and his flailing becomes even more desperate. Even the Republicans are now admitting that the Trump albatross is creating the historically rare situation in which a new President’s party has strong odds of winning the midterms. The only remaining question is why we don’t admit it. The Republicans are now paralyzed by Trump’s ghost, and we have an opportunity to seize the 2022 narrative. The only question is whether we’ll jump on this unique opportunity to fight and win, or whether we’ll make up excuses to idly fret over Trump’s ghost somehow finally having us right where he wants us.
