Republicans have no clue how to deal with Donald Trump, part 784
Clueless.
On Thursday, Donald Trump was asked whether he would endorse the eventual Republican presidential nominee in 2024 — if he happened to not be it.
Here’s how he responded: “It would depend….It would have to depend on who the nominee was.”
Which is very similar to what Trump said, repeatedly, in 2016 when he alone among the Republican contenders refused to say that he would support the nominee.
So, no real surprise there.
What is surprising is what two other 2024 hopefuls had to say when asked the same question this week.
First, there was New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who, just as a reminder, has called Trump “fucking crazy” in the past.
“I’m a Republican I am going to support the Republican nominee,” said Sununu.
Then there’s Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who, like Sununu, has been an outspoken critic of Trump and his influence on the party.
Asked by conservative radio talk sho host Hugh Hewitt whether he would support the Republican nominee (even if it was Trump), Hogan responded this way: “Yeah, I just don’t think [Trump will] be the nominee, but I’ll support the nominee.”
Later, he took to Twitter to clarify that comment.
Consider that. Two of the most outspoken critics of Trump within the Republican party are dithering on whether or not they would support him if he wound up as the 2024 nominee!
If Hogan and Sununu can’t say it, what do you expect the response will be from the likes of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo or any of the other more Trump-y candidates expected to run in 2024?
Yeah, exactly.
Which means that Trump, again, will be playing by different rules than the rest of the Republican field. He is allowed to keep it an open question as to whether he will support the eventual nominee while they feel compelled to say they will. It’s a double standard they are allowing themselves to get backed into.
And the responses of Sununu and Hogan suggest a broader problem for Republicans: They don’t seem settled on what sort of threat Trump poses to the party going forward.
If he is — as some suggest — an existential threat to Republicans if he is the nominee in 2024 then not endorsing him if he is the nominee would seem to be the sine qua non of running for the Republican nomination.
After all, how can you possibly support someone who you believe will burn the party down? And, if you do support that person, then how do you explain all the rhetoric about how dangerous Trump is to the party and the country?
Hogan and Sununu seem to be treating Trump as just another Republican. Sure they think they would be a better Republican nominee than he would but, if not, well Republicans support Republicans.
Which is exactly the sort of naïveté that led Republicans to drastically underestimate who Trump is and what he was willing to do in the 2016 campaign. He made clear again this week that his loyalty is to himself, not to the broader Republican party. Trump has — and will — do what’s best for him. Always.
The sooner Republicans realize that Trump isn’t playing by their rules (or, really, any rules), the better chance they have of actually beating him in 2024.
Based on the early days of the 2024 campaign, I wouldn’t be optimistic.
“If you can support someone who attempted to overturn an election (and that was just the worst of many disqualifying things), then your tribalism has overwhelmed your judgment. And you have demonstrated that you, too, are unfit. Even worse, you’re normalizing what Trump did.”
That’s a tweet from Sarah Longwell of Bulwark. I can’t say it any better than that. If Hogan and Sununu are going to engage in magical thinking where they know Trump isn’t going to be the nominee they’re part of the problem.
Feckless cowards, all of them...............