Jonathan Bernstein: “From the 2016 presidential campaign through the second impeachment vote in the Senate, Republicans have had plenty of opportunities to rid themselves of Trump. Yet time after time, they chose instead to stick with him, with the party and with party-aligned media, giving Trump, who apparently cares little about public policy or the conservative movement, the ability to decide what counts as orthodoxy.”
“Given the legal trouble the former president has gotten himself into, being a ‘true conservative’ now includes a requirement to defend Trump’s attempt to overthrow the 2020 election as well as his right to classified material, including ultra-sensitive information about human intelligence, and store it willy-nilly at a not-even-close-to-secure location.”
“Republicans know that the weeks leading up to midterm elections aren’t a good time to pick a fight with the party leader, especially one who they believe won’t hesitate to turn against anyone who opposes him. That means the next opportunity to move away from Trump is probably after the November midterms. Until then, Republicans are probably stuck with whatever he does that disrupts the party’s attempts to run coherent campaigns and focus voters on President Joe Biden’s weaknesses.”
