Not Him, Them

It was only a matter of time:

Former President Donald Trump called for the termination of the Constitution to overturn the 2020 election and reinstate him to power Saturday in a continuation of his election denialism and pushing of fringe conspiracy theories.

“Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution,” Trump wrote in a post on the social network Truth Social and accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats. “Our great ‘Founders’ did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!”

So Bill Kristol is correct:

Since @GOPLeader has announced that on the first day of the new Congress Republicans will read the Constitution aloud from the House floor, House Republicans should have no problem voting for a resolution this week condemning the ex-president's call to overturn the Constitution. https://t.co/FQE8DBpWvV

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 4, 2022

When discussion turns to the issue of why very few GOP officials criticize the ex-President, many pundits and virtually all Democrats asked maintain that those Republicans fear the GOP base.  Democratic politicians assure their audiences that in private, GOP politicians tell them that of course, they don't agree with Trump but must keep silent or Republican voters will turn against them.

Those Democrats are being played. They're told by their Republican colleagues what the latter know the former want to hear. It's the fault of those unwashed, perhaps ignorant, Republicans in the street rather than their fellow Senators and Representatives.

Hogwash. In post-election news, The Hill has found "In an Iowa caucus-based survey, 48 percent of 508 respondents said they’ll support DeSantis as the party’s next White House nominee, compared to 37 percent who said they’ll support Trump." The Texas Tribune reports "Republican voters in Texas support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election over former President Donald Trump by more than 10 percentage points, according to a new poll commissioned by the Republican Party of Texas." And The Philadelphia Inquirer notes that including people who say they would "definitely" or "probably" support Trump or DeSantis, notes the latter "leads Trump, 45% to 40%, in a hypothetical head-to-head 2024 primary election, according to a survey of Pennsylvania Republican voters."

This is subject to change and probably will, possibly soon. However, as of right now, Republican voters obviously are looking for a nasty, right-wing alternative to Donald Trump. If GOP officials want to jump ship on Trump, now is the perfect time.

But they haven't, and won't, and it is becoming increasingly clear that Republican voters are not primarily to blame. The men and women they vote for agree with Donald Trump who now says he wants applicable "rules, regulations, and articles" of the U.S. Constitution overturned so he can be installed as President. They want what he wants.

Bill Kristol understands what Charlie Pierce calls the "prion disease." It's Donald Trump but not primarily Donald Trump. It's the Republican Party.

 

 

 

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