The Republican Case for Lying Down for Trump Again 

Should GOP candidates grin and bear it one more time?

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195
Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at an NRA event on April 14, 2023, in Indianapolis. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Imagine you’re a Republican senator or governor looking glumly at the 18 months to come. 

You’re wondering the same thing you’ve been wondering for more than seven years now: Is it worth the trouble of fighting Donald Trump? If there’s a bull in your china shop, are you better off to let him roam at will than perhaps doing greater harm trying to chase him out?

The recent burst of endorsements from members of the Republican power structure, including Montana Sen. Steve Daines, chairman of the party’s Senate campaign arm, and Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, suggests that the answer will yet again be to let the bull do as it pleases and hope for the best.

Is a party that couldn’t summon the will to convict Trump for sending a mob to the Capitol to try to steal a second term really now willing to endure a painful, protracted nomination fight to try to keep him from joining Richard Nixon as the only men to thrice win the party’s nomination? And what if that fight results in Trump bolting the party and playing spoiler next November either as some kind of Bull Moose or just trashing his former team and further alienating his supporters from it?

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Comments (195)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Mister D

    Just lay back and enjoy it.

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    1. Norcal

      It should be "lie back", but it's funny nonetheless. 😃

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      1. Avatar photo
        Mister D

        In my head, Trump would say "lay back."

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        1. Norcal

          Good point

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  2. HalinTexas

    Cheney/Sinema 2024 🤠

    Talk about stirring the boiling pot.

    #NOTA

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  3. Avatar photo
    Philbnichols

    I had a friend who as a kid was walking down a sidewalk with a tall hedge on one side & flush to the street on the other. It had rained hard and he was about half-way past a long puddle in the street when he heard a delivery truck approaching from behind. He turned to see the driver just entering the puddle, smiling as he drove. The kid had no time to escape so just shrugged his shoulders and flipped the driver off as he got soaked. As Trump continues to improve in the polls, I feel more & more like that kid. And my only middle finger is voting for anyone other than the man I shouldn't have made excuses to vote for twice already.
    Proud to say I didn't vote for T in any primary.

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      Mister D

      I commend you. I have seen a lot of people who "held their nose" and voted for Trump slowly turn around to firm supporters. I can't say why, but psychologically I imagine many simply want to justify their vote. It is precisely that temptation that kept me from voting for Trump either time.

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      1. Avatar photo
        Philbnichols

        I get the argument for 'voting for the party'; I did it twice. But when the party stubbornly refuses to boot a degenerative force like T, the only way I seem to be able to send the message is to vote against the party. And the Ds are too committed to un-Christian or anti-Christian stances, and too harsh against letting the market be as free as possible. I guess it's all first world problems, but it just seems like such a simple fix for the Rs to nominate an adult. Oh well.

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  4. Russell J

    Still seems like being Switzerland until voting starts is smartest for the politicians. 50% support is pretty weak for a defacto incumbent that the entire planet knows well even if we are shocked at that level. 2020 Trump would have had 80% or more with the same competition.

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  5. Georges

    I do not consider the gop capable of the kinds of calculations M Stirewalt suggests.
    They are disorganized, leaderless, and rudderless. They have blown far too many golden opportunities amd in general have performed with the timeless grace of a hippopotamus dancing the ballet.
    They are not called the stupid party for nothing …
    That means e.g. the endorsements Trump is getting are pure near term expediency: individual members are blowing with the wind.

    My 2 cents.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Ben Connelly

      “ I do not consider the gop capable of the kinds of calculations M Stirewalt suggests.”

      Neither does Stirewalt. He’s writing tongue-in-cheek.

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      Dave in Houston

      I second your remarks, sir.

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  6. Scianti7

    So it's worth the risk to democracy to nominate & support someone for the job of defending & upholding the Constitution who not only published a statement advocating "revoke the Constitution" but who also was the subject & instigator of Jan 6th? (Where they erected gallows & screamed to hang the Vice President, while attempting to subvert the Constitution--which is why they admittedly were there).

    His words & actions, and the actions of those "fighting on his behalf" are clearly indicating they are hostile to the Constitution, which is what we are based on.

    But I guess for some, their own political power is more important than anything else. So disheartening.

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      Blake Fischer

      You only think political power is most important to SOME of them? 😆

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      1. Scianti7

        For politicians I'd say it is most of them based on their actions, words, & attitudes.

        I feel like it is new for Voters to express themselves & act this way, because honestly it isn't exactly any more their personal power than when anyone else wins--it is still just a representative. But now, particularly with GOP it seems like an identity affirmation that their letter wins. And their POLs eat it up & encourage it.

        For example, can you imagine any Democrat really caring if someone called them a "DINO". Of course not. It has been a coalition party since Roosevelt. It is how I tend to vote, not my identity. Personally, I would laugh & ask if that means they prefer I refuse to vote for them. The identity thing gives the polticians & influencers the power to define the followers, I would never agree to that. Human beings are incredibly corruptible, so I'll be in charge of who I am & how I think & vote, & how I define myself.

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  7. Raymondbrosterhous

    There is another scenario: the Dems run a genuinely moderate candidate (Manchin, Mark Warner, Tester, etc.) and then Trump gets buried in the landslide. Has anyone considered that?

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    1. Jenleehoy

      I wish

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    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    A good outcome would be (R) senate, (D) house, with Trump. That way he can set a record for most impeachments! Yeah, he has it now, but Curry has 4 rings, Trump has two impeachments. If he wins he could boost that to 5, easy-peasy.

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    Rlritt

    If Trump won. He would never leave office. He would end elections. He would probably jail Biden and the more powerful Democrats or simply dissolve congress. He would stay in power until he died and turn over the United States to his nitwit son.

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    1. Goatprairie

      Congratulations.....that's about as nutty as the idea that Biden stole the 2020 prez election. You're coming closer and closer rounding the curve to the joining with the cultists.

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      1. Scianti7

        So even after Trump tweeted out his "joke" about perpetually winning the presidency (it isn't a joke), even after he wove January 6th together with stand back & stand by, & all the lies, & returning to D.C. instead of sticking to his known plan to be out of town (which indicated to me he thought something monumental in his favor would occur), even after he tweeted out that the should revoke the Constitution so he could take power....you still think he is joking? Or he doesn't really mean or intend or want that outcome?

        Denile ain't just a river in Egypt.

        For what it's worth I wish you were correct. Unfortunately I have observed & been measuring Trumps character since the 1980s, & this lines up with his own words, actions, & publicly stated desires.

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        1. Goatprairie

          It doesn't matter what Trump would like to do. Do you actually believe that the assorted authorities in charge of the law would let Trump continue in office as some sort of dictator? If you believe that, you'll believe anything.

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            Citizen60

            And just who will lead the opposition? Especially with a SCOTUS who will give him everything he wants as long as he promises to give The Federalist Society everything they want?

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        Rlritt

        From your mouth to God's ears.
        Did you forget he the attack on the Capitol by his zombies? Did you watch any of the hearings? Did we not learn that he would not call off the rioters even though his advisors begged him to? And he did tell them to hang his VP. Do you honestly think he would be more circumspect if he got another chance? You must have read where he said we should abolish the Constitution.

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          Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

          How many of them had weapons?

          Let's assume Trump was the mastermind behind J6. The lack of preparation, the lack of weapons, suggests he's a dumb@$$$ insurrectionist, an incompetent.

          I lose no sleep at night worrying Trump will become a dictator for life. A d**kh**d for life (a dock hand) for sure, but not a dictator.

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          1. Scianti7

            What do you think they meant when they said "fight it in the streets" then? If they (Trump & the guy who thought up this denial extra elector bs) didn't mean an actual street fight & physical violence, what do you think they meant by their phrasing?

            I tend to believe people when they testify against themselves, & if you listen closely & remember their words, they usually do.

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          2. Scarloc

            According to the SS (earlier in the day) and the Capitol Police, quite a few.

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            Rlritt

            I don't think he masterminded it. I doubt he's capable of that kind of planning, but he egged them on and wanted to join them. He also, refused to tell them to stand down. And he did tell them to hang Mike Pence.

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    Joe Lancaster

    Great (and extremely depressing 🤦🏼‍♂️) essay, Chris.

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