It’s easy to believe, or at least convince yourself, that Donald Trump doesn’t stand a chance of returning to the White House for a second presidential term. The man is quite truly plagued with scandal at this point, facing literal dozens of criminal charges at both the state and federal level, with felonies from Jack Smith’s stolen document indictment alone adding up to a life sentence if convicted. That’s not to even mention the variety of lawsuits, various other investigations and probes, and the two separate impeachments he faced while in office.
One would logically think that there’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell that this man could possibly find his way back into the most powerful position that this country has to offer. But frankly, it would serve us well not to jump to assumptions too quickly, because Donald Trump still has far more power in this nation than any of us want to admit.
Washington Post’s Congressional Bureau chief Paul Kane broke reporting that left us with a sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs after Kane confirmed that “many” of the 35 Senate Republicans who have yet to throw their official endorsement behind a 2024 Republican presidential candidate have been reluctant to do so, due to their “panic” and “fear” that Donald Trump will seek “revenge” on them should they dare to support anyone other than him in the impending presidential race.
These days, quite a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill see Donald Trump as nothing more than dead weight that’s holding the Grand Old Party back from its full potential — obviously evident from Trump’s own brutal 2020 presidential loss, and the subsequent failed “Red Wave” in the midterm elections.
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Yet, you’ll notice that virtually none of these Republicans who have found themselves sick of Trump’s nonsense and games are throwing their support behind a new candidate that could potentially help pull the party out of the trenches.
Why?
Because they’re terrified to their cores of the retribution war path they’ll see out of Donald J. Trump if they do.
Kane cited Senator Tim Scott as an example in his analysis of the fear and panic that’s spreading through the GOP as the 2024 presidential closes in, theorizing that Scott and others like him aren’t seeing the level of endorsements that they would expect if it weren’t for the ever-looming shadow of Donald J. Trump.
Kane goes on to note that, despite his resounding popularity in the Senate, “Scott only has two colleagues backing his bid: South Dakota Sens. Mike Rounds and John Thune. All told, 35 Senate Republicans remain on the sidelines of the 2024 contest, more than 70 percent of the caucus, and it’s crystal clear that many are paralyzed by the fear that former president Donald Trump might seek revenge if they publicly support someone else.”
In remarks made this week, South Carolina Senator and devout Trump sycophant Lindsey Graham all but confirmed the fear that is paralyzing his political party these days when he said of his Republican colleagues in the Senate, “A lot of them, they don’t want to get on the wrong side of Trump,” openly laughing about how often than truly happens.
Read Kane’s full analysis with the Washington Post here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
