Previous post
Donald Trump and other GOP candidates won’t win in 2024, especially if they try to emulate the former president. So said FL Gov. Ron DeSantis during a New Hampshire town hall interview that aired Friday.
Trump’s juvenile antics and name-calling could trickle down ballot, poisoning the well for other Republican candidates. And don’t even try to mirror his behavior, warns DeSantis:
These insults are so phony, these insults are juvenile. That is not the way a great nation should be conducting itself. That is not the way the president of the United States should be conducting himself …
As Republicans, that will cause us to lose if we behave that way. There are millions of voters out there who do not like what Biden is doing to this country. They do not like the direction the country is going in. But they aren’t going to sign up for a candidate who is behaving like that. So, let’s be better. Let’s look higher, and let’s set a good standard for our children to follow.
WATCH: Governor Ron DeSantis asked in a New Hampshire Town Hall how he will respond when former President Trump launches personal attacks and insults. DeSantis directly goes after Trump on policy while reminding voters that Trump's behavior is one of the reason why the GOP loses pic.twitter.com/JqVfkeY0xA
— Hempstead Tires (@HempsteadTirez) August 5, 2023
However, Ron DeSantis is grasping at straws at this point. That’s because Donald Trump is trouncing him in every poll, according to Real Clear Politics. And with each indictment against their beleaguered champion, Trump’s loyal supporters dig in deeper, refusing to consider that their man may be toxic in a general election.
After DJT was arraigned last Thursday on the newest charges the DOJ and Jack Smith brought against him, his attorneys and the prosecution agreed to terms for his pre-trial release. They read as follows:
The prosecution and defense have agreed to conditions of former President Donald Trump’s release: He must not violate federal or state laws; he must appear in court as required; he must sign an appearance bond; and he must not communicate about the facts of the case with anyone Trump knows to be a witness, except through counsel or in presence of counsel.
So what did Trump do on Friday? He posted the following at Truth Social, in ALL CAPS no less:
Trump on Truth Social:
“IF YOU COME AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” pic.twitter.com/iByibOGhbX
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 4, 2023
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley — who has expressed his opposition to Smith’s latest indictment over free speech issues — was aghast at Trump’s social media post. He tweeted this thread:
Former president Trump has long posted social media comments that undermined his position in court or those of his Administration. The latest is such an example where he declared “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”…
…It was made to order for Smith who immediately used it to ask the court to limit Trump’s access to discovery: “in recent days…the defendant has issued multiple posts either specifically or by implication including the following, which the defendant posted just hours ago.”
…The existential threat of these cases has not reduced Trump exclamatory statements. He is also reinforcing the Smith’s narrative with these postings. He is still firing in all caps as his lawyers prepare to ask the court for a dismissal.
And if Trump thinks that the Supreme Court will intercede on his behalf, Turley says that’s a non-starter:
..It is entirely tone deaf to post “the Supreme Court must intercede. MAGA!” The justices are not keen on being called forth with a MAGA cheer…
Sure enough, Judge Tanya Chutkan responded by ordering Trump’s legal team to explain why she shouldn’t grant the protective order. This would limit what DJT can say about the case.
Trump’s lawyer John Lauro told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week” that the request for a protective order was an “attack on free speech.” But behind the scenes I bet his attorneys are thinking this:
The admonition to “choose your battles wisely” is lost on Donald Trump.
The long-standing conservative publication National Review is no fan of Donald Trump. However, after Jack Smith’s indictment of DJT on four felony charges, the NR editorial board condemned the action because of what it could mean for the rule of law. So has John Yoo, law professor at U of California Berkeley, who also served in George W. Bush’s Department of Justice. In an article entitled “The Historic Trump Indictment Looks Like a Stretch,” Yoo concludes:
… his indictment brings to mind Justice Robert Jackson’s warning that prosecutors should beware of “picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him.”
Finally, former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy — a conservative who has no fondness for Donald Trump — is also opposed to Smith’s indictment. However, McCarthy has also warned that “Trump Can’t Win” in 2024, echoing what DeSantis said in New Hampshire. Why? Because of his unfavorability with the general public, which hovers around 60%.
There is no reason to believe this will change. To the contrary, about 54 percent of voters cast their ballots for someone other than Trump in 2016 and 2020, when he was more popular nationwide than he is now. He couldn’t win in 2020 with 46 (he won by a miracle in 2016 with 46). He is not going to win with less than 46, but there’s no reason to think he would ever sniff 46 again.
There is an enormous gulf between Trump’s diehard base and the general public — which is something his supporters just can’t seem to wrap their heads around. They project their opinions on a public which doesn’t pay much attention to politics until it’s time to vote in the presidential election. Trump, says McCarthy, is malignant for those voters:
Americans broadly are not nearly as inclined as the Republican primary electorate to see Trump as a victim of Democratic persecution — even if they believe we have an increasingly corrupt two-tiered justice system. For Trump’s Republican supporters, the Capitol riot is either something to ignore … or, perversely, something to celebrate (as a rage against the machine, as a shibboleth for those who take it as an article of faith that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump). The broad mass of the country, however, finds the episode abhorrent. These ordinary Americans are not progressive Democrats — they are not obsessed by January 6. But when reminded of it, they are repulsed by it, and they will be reminded of it nonstop from September through Election Day 2024.
Joe Biden is rapidly deteriorating before Americans’ eyes — no doubt about it. I believe that the average thoughtful citizen, even if they’re not terribly political, cannot help but notice the gaffes, the falls, the look in Biden’s eyes that appears like the lights are on but no one’s home.
But what if it’s not Biden who runs for president in 2024? What if the Democrat party manages to kick Joe to the curb and entices CA Gov. Gavin Newsom to run instead?
It could happen. In fact, Newsom is using fundraising strategies that potential presidential candidates use. He made at least two cross-country trips to visit with party leaders and organizers. He’s also paid consulting fees to Bearstar Strategies, the most powerful political consultancy in California.
In short, I think Newsom is getting ready to jump into the 2024 race; all he needs is the signal that Joe is toast.
“Yeah, but who wants to be California?” say conservatives. True, but does the general public care about that? If it’s a race between Trump and Newsom, the average nonpolitical or independent voter will see a young, handsome, slick governor take on the older, bombastic former president whose tirades and drama they are tired of.
If the GOP nominates Donald Trump, “he’s going to get drubbed,” in the words of Andrew McCarthy. And, as DeSantis said, those Trumpian coattails that down ballot Republican candidates are hoping to ride may not exist for them, either.
Republicans should ask themselves this question: Do you want to win?
Featured image: “Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped.
Lloyd says: trump is indeed an unlikeable buffoon…..The only way he can bolster Republican chances in 2024 is to drop out and disappear!
Jack says: The GOP will not win in 2024 or anytime soon. The Dems have perfected the art of the steal.
The GOP are very happy to go along with it for now.
54% of the reported ballots voted for someone other than Trump. Fixed it for them.
By the known fraud, somewhere between 45% and 48% of the LEGITIMATE ballots voted for someone other than Trump.
That falls to somewhere less than 40% without the media propaganda efforts.
(One has to count the approximately 10% of diehard Leftists, AND the around 30% of those who just want the free stuff to keep coming – or at least be cheap thanks to the slave labor of Communist China and illegal immigrants.)
3 Comments