Trump is reportedly making a list of the Republicans who are now distancing themselves from him. He’s “contemplating retribution:”
It looks like Trump can add Texas Sen. John Cornyn to his list. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Cornyn is distancing himself from Trump. He compared his relationship with Trump to a bad marriage. (He specifically compared himself to the woman 🙄)
He also claims that he privately opposed Trump. Yeah. Riiiight. Cornyn is part of the Senate GOP that has actively shielded and protected Trump for the past 3.5 years.
Cornyn’s statement reminds me of this passage from Stuart P. Stevens’ book, It Was All A Lie:
The passage rings true for me. It’s one reason I never believed the “GOP elected officials are conspiring to cheat and throw the election to Trump even if he loses the election” theory.
In this CNN piece, John Harwood argues that Trump rallies make no political sense, but he does them anyway because they gratify his ego. I agree that Trump is not using these rallies strategically as a way to win the election. And while the gratification he gets from applause and cheers is part of it, I think that these rallies are how he retains “power” after he leaves office.
Trump has a devoted following. His base is a minority of US voters, but a majority of GOP voters. His base isn’t big enough to hand him an electoral victory in 2020, but if he maintains control over his base, he has power over the GOP.
Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker and Berkeley political scientist Paul Pierson in Let Them Eat Tweets explain how the GOP got itself into this bind. Basically, the GOP elected officials outsourced voter mobilization to organizations like the NRA and FOX.
At first, the Fox-GOP partnership was a boon to GOP candidates. FOX turned out voters. Eventually, FOX exerted control over GOP officials. Elected officials were forced to cater to Fox’s demands.
Trump plans to outfox Fox. By keeping control of his “base” he controls a majority of GOP voters, which gives him control over the GOP, which is why Trump can make a “naughty” list and plan his retribution. He does rallies. Keeps his base pumped. And later weaponizes them.
He plans to weaponize his “fans” the way he has tried to weaponize the DOJ and other levers of government against his political opponents.
Trump isn’t a strategic thinker or problem solver, but he knows how to manipulate people and maintain power over them. He’s an expert liar because he lives in his own reality. Later, when the law catches up to him, he’ll play the victim and keep a grip on his base.
This brings us to the issue of what happens to Trump when the law catches up to him.
This question came from the “Ask Teri” tab:
I’m wondering if, in the next administration, it would be better to let Trump and the others off the hook or prosecute to them?
I understand the need to get on with the business of running, putting back, and healing the nation, but the alternative, doing nothing, seems so wrong and incentivizes future presidents to do the same or worse!
This similar question came from Twitter:
This is getting long, so I will continue tomorrow in a post called Crime and Punishment.
