The Most Cowardly Republicans of All Are Quietly Hoping Trump Loses

Conservative commentator Erick Erickson is not a smart guy: “I don’t mind being despised by idiots.” His Career He occasionally makes interesting comments on what I still call Twitter. Last week he tweeted There are increasing “private conversations” with Republicans who secretly hope that former President Donald Trump will be defeated this November.

“If Trump is elected, it would set the pro-life movement and the free market back at least a generation,” Erickson’s “source” said. Trump’s shifting stance on abortion (he went from opposing Florida’s six-week abortion ban to supporting it and acknowledged he would vote against a referendum establishing abortion rights in the state) has unsettled far-right anti-abortion activists, while his promises of higher tariffs have unsettled free marketers. “No amount of threats will do anything to get us to a place in the state where we have the right to abortion,” Erickson’s “source” said. [by Trump supporters saying] “But you’re helping Harris solve this problem.” His post is over“Only a change of direction from Trump can make that happen.”

Ah, there’s that lingering hope of a turnaround again! So-called “reasonable Republicans” have been waiting for Trump to turn away from his “tide” of blatant racism, cruelty, sexist attacks on women, and increasingly insane mentality ever since he announced his candidacy over nine years ago. It hasn’t happened, and it never will.

In fact, I might ignore Ericson’s “private conversations.” POLITICOJonathan Martin of The same news was reported todayUnfortunately, neither Erickson’s post nor Martin’s piece mentions any names, which is the point of the “secret” whisper: “I asked any Republican last week and they told me that the most heated private debate within the party was about how quickly we could get Trump out of the 19th hole.” He wroteSome believed the party could survive a Kamala Harris presidency, especially if Republicans took control of the Senate.

“One senior Republican, while acknowledging it might just be ‘wishful thinking,’ even floated the idea of ​​Ms Harris winning and then Mr Biden pardoning both Hunter and Mr Trump. That would take the burden of both cases off Ms Harris’ shoulders and, more importantly, it would take the energy away from Trump’s paranoia and allow the GOP to focus on the business of winning the election,” Martin added.

A woman running on her record as a prosecutor is unlikely to “pardon Trump.” And it’s not up to her to “suck the energy” away from Trump’s persecution madness. That’s up to Republicans who know better that the 2020 election was not stolen, but that January 6th was an attempted coup.

The real problem with a Trump defeat scenario is that it relies on actual voter rejection. This is possible, and I believe increasingly likely, but it would be the result of mobilizing Democrats and persuading independents, not converting MAGA staunchers. “You’re assuming that the Republican Party has a problem with its top candidate, not a problem with its voter base,” Terry Sullivan, a former Republican strategist and 2016 campaign manager for Sen. Marco Rubio, told Martin. “It’s not like our leaders are leading voters into the wilderness against the judgement of the voters.”

How voters got to where they are now is up for debate: Republicans have enjoyed fairly stable support among voters since the election of the nation’s first black president, Barack Obama. Red meat diet—Donald Trump started the “birther” slur, but so did the staunch Mitt Romney. He and his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, painted Obamacare as a welfare program that stole funds from Medicare, with less overtly racist undertones. Rubio, Sullivan’s former employer, started out as Trump’s opponent, then became one of his main defenders, even becoming a finalist for the vice presidential nomination won by the ill-fated J.D. Vance. National and local party leaders, whether under the guise of “critical race theory” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion” or “replacement theory,” are increasingly comfortable stoking white fears and grievances, as if whites were an increasingly threatened minority in their own country.

To be clear, I am not calling anyone an animal. But I do think of pit bulls. Most dog trainers believe that pit bulls are not inherently vicious or aggressive and can be trained to be loving family dogs. I have met many pit bulls. On the other hand, some owners breed pit bulls to be cruel. In a way, that is exactly what white grievances have done to MAGA supporters. And now, timid Republicans are scared they will be attacked. That is why they only whisper their concerns about Trump.

Many Republicans have done the right thing and left the party altogether, or at least escaped Trump’s grip: George Conway, Tara Setmeyer, Rick Wilson, Tim Miller, Charlie Sykes, Cindy McCain, Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, Tom Nichols… the list is long. You can follow their path, or you can keep whining to friends and reporters who keep your faith.

There is a saying that it is a virtue to “put country over party” for the good of the American people as a whole. This isn’t even “putting party over country” because they are acknowledging that Trump is hurting their party. I’m not sure what to call this, since I’ve already used the word “cowardly” so many times. “Pathetic” is the word that comes to mind.