Morning Briefing: Who Will Anti-Trump Republicans Rally Behind, Plus Dems Try to Shut Down an Indie Campaign

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | August 3, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | Politics | August 3, 2023 |

Donald Trump will appear in federal court today following his third indictment in four months. This one pertains to his attempt to overturn the results of an election he knew he’d lost. Interestingly, the key evidence came from his own Vice President, Mike Pence, who provided grand jury testimony based on contemporaneous notes. He is finally turning on his old boss.

Pence: Let’s be clear on this point. It wasn’t that they asked for a pause. The president specifically asked me, and his gaggle of crackpot lawyers asked me to literally reject votes which would have resulted in the issue of being turned over to the House of Representatives. pic.twitter.com/QTyw99l8sc

— Acyn (@Acyn) August 2, 2023

This won’t change anything. Pence isn’t going to win the nomination. Interestingly, however, while Trump leads the pack of primary candidates, he’s only polling at around 52-53 percent. This implies that 47-48 percent of the party would prefer to vote against him. The problem, alas, is similar to what led Trump to win in 2016: too many candidates are splitting the rest of the votes. To defeat Trump, the party would need to rally around one candidate, but none of them are likely to drop out until it’s too late.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the only candidate gaining significant traction, might stand a chance. He’s not running as an alternative to Trump but as a younger, fresher Trump. Despite his soaring, optimistic-sounding speeches, his version of Trumpism is unsettling. If he gets the nomination, it could spell trouble.

That said, the Republicans aren’t interested in positive feelings; they thrive on animosity. They hate Democrats so much that they are rallying behind a man who has been indicted three times, impeached twice, had affairs with porn stars while his wife was pregnant, and provoked an insurrection. They’re indifferent to how dictatorial he may be; in fact, it’s a selling point because it means using that power against liberals. The party no longer seems to be driven by a political ideology; it’s a grift. They’re selling conspiracy theories, grievances, and victimhood without any care for effectively running the government. They’re trying to convince America that Democrats are sex traffickers while supporting an actual sex trafficker.

These same evangelical voters are supporting a lawyer — America’s Mayor — who sexually harassed an employee on tape and mocked Jews. Here are the actual words of Rudy Giuliani:

“Come here, big tits. Come here, big tits. Your tits belong to me. Give them to me [indiscernable]. I want to claim my tits. I want to claim my tits. I want to claim my tits. These are my tits.”

…

“Jewish men have small cocks because they can’t use them after they get married. Whereas Italians use them all their lives, so they get bigger.”

Would Democrats put the party over the country to the same extent? Would we vote for Rudy G’s boss if he were a Democrat? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t be happy about it, but I’d vote for two or three of those Republican primary candidates over Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., even if RFK is a “Democrat.”

On that note: A bipartisan group called No Labels is planning to spend $70 million to back a centrist, third-party candidate, hoping that someone like Joe Manchin could win. The Democrats are pushing very hard against that effort because it could lead to a Trump victory. Trump voters are all-in; a centrist is not going to draw MAGA away from their candidate. Republican candidates have tried moving to the center; Democrats have done the same. However, in the era of Trumpism, it does not work.

Finally, Ron DeSantis has accepted a debate against California Governor Gavin Newsom in November on Fox News hosted by Sean Hannity. Could you not, Gavin? DeSantis accepted the debate because his campaign is in the toilet and he’s trying to get some attention. Newsom, who is not running in 2024, gains nothing by this.