If the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, today’s Republican Party is certifiable.
After a disappointing 2022 midterm—that should have been interpreted as a warning against Trumpism—the Republican Party has given zero indication that they will hit the panic button in time to salvage 2024.
Let’s start with the OG election denier, Donald Trump, who is still ostensibly the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. On the heels of demoralizing midterm results, Trump promptly announced he was running for president and then spent last week dining with antisemites and neo-Nazis.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responded by saying, “There is simply no room in the Republican Party for antisemitism or white supremacy”—a demonstrably untrue statement. McConnell went on to say that “anyone meeting with people advocating that point of view, in my judgment, [is] highly unlikely to ever be elected president of the United States.” McConnell’s goal may be noble, but in the words of the Big Lebowski, “Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man…”
The guy with the best chance to help Republicans move on from Trump is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. At least, he appears the most likely candidate to be able to defeat Trump in a presidential primary. But this would likely be a Pyrrhic victory. Trump would likely sabotage DeSantis in a general election. So it’s heads: Trump wins, or tails: DeSantis loses. Either way, Republicans probably lose another presidential race in 2024.
Donald Trump’s Enablers Finally Realize He’s a Loser Who Hurts the GOP
Republicans might console themselves by looking at the 2024 congressional races. According to Politico, Dems face a “Senate map from hell” because Democrats are defending a lot more seats than Republicans. What is more, some of the places Democrats are playing defense are increasingly red. How would you like to be a Democrat running for re-election in Montana, Ohio, or West Virginia?
This is good news for Republicans, but ask yourself this: What have Republicans done in the last few weeks to suggest they won’t make the same mistakes that caused them to underperform in 2022? Is there any reason to believe that high-quality candidates (think Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey or New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu) will be attracted to this Republican Party? Is there any reason to believe that Trumpy candidates (think Blake Masters and Herschel Walker) won’t continue to run for the U.S. Senate in 2024?
Maybe Republicans will demonstrate leadership and competence in the House of Representatives.
According to former Speaker Newt Gingrich, “The first goal [of a Republican Congress] should be to give the American people a sense of hope—and a reason to believe things can be dramatically better.” Fat chance. There’s no guarantee that Kevin McCarthy will even become House Speaker. If he does, there is virtually zero chance he can control the “clown caucus.” Reps. Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene will call the shots, which will make it easy for Team Biden to paint them (and Trump) as the face of the GOP.
Not only is it unlikely that House Republicans will clean up their act by 2024, it’s also possible that their insistent election denialism could cost Republicans another House seat this year.
To recap, Republicans can’t count on salvation from the 2024 presidential race, senior Republican leaders like Mitch McConnell, a friendly U.S. Senate map, or the narrow House majority. Perhaps the Republican National Committee will save the day.
Again, don’t hold your breath. Even assuming MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell doesn’t wrest control of the committee from RNC Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel, what are the odds the new “Republican Party Advisory Council” will provide a clear pathway back to sanity and victory?
One of the council’s members includes losing Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters. As National Review’s Jack Butler put it, Masters “underperformed every other statewide Republican running in Arizona this year and failed to knock off vulnerable incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly despite the professed desire of Arizonans for a Republican senator.”
It’s Weird, but Democrats Actually Have Their Sh*t Together in Congress
To be sure, anything can happen. Life moves fast. The Republican Party has been prematurely written off more times than I can count. The difference, though, has been that after past losses the GOP wanted to attract voters and was willing to make changes to win elections.
For example, in the wake of Watergate, the RNC had yellow buttons printed with the slogan, “Republicans Are People, Too!”
Considering some of the weirdos the GOP nominated to run in 2022, “Republicans Are People, Too!” is just the kind of humble, desperation message that the GOP should embrace.
Republicans will likely have to hit rock bottom before they admit they have a problem. Until that happens, we’ll be unable to look away from the slow-motion political car crash that is the GOP.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
Get the Daily Beast’s biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.
Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast’s unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Bam Adebayo scored 28 points, Tyler Herro had 26 and the Miami Heat completed a split of two games in Boston, beating the Celtics 120-116 on Friday night after Jaylen Brown banked in a long 3-pointer to force overtime.
In some ways, much of what plagued the Celtics in the latter rounds of the 2022 NBA Playoffs returned.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Sunday condemned former President Trump as “an enemy of the Constitution” after he called for terminating the document over unfounded claims of mass electoral fraud in the 2020 presidential election. “Donald Trump believes we should terminate ‘all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution’ to overturn the…
Trump "says a lot of things," noted Ohio Rep. David Joyce, who insisted he "can't be chasing every one of these crazy statements."
Former President Trump called for the termination of the Constitution’s rules regarding elections to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election following the release of more detailed information about Twitter’s role in suppressing a story about Hunter Biden. “A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations,…
Walker, a former NFL player, struggled in the general election compared to the other statewide GOP candidates, who all won their respective races.
"You can't just get rid of it when it no longer suits your purposes," Alice Stewart said after the thrice-married president suggested ending the Constitution.
Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/GettyIn Moore v. Harper—scheduled for oral argument on Wednesday, Dec. 7—the Supreme Court will decide whether to resurrect the previously dead “Independent State Legislature Theory”–in a way that some commentators believe may pose “an existential threat to our democracy” and could enable “the Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election.”Proponents of the “ISLT”–Independent State Legislature Theory–believe that the U.S. Constitution besto
White nationalist Nick Fuentes described Marjorie Taylor Greene as "weak" and attention-seeking after she denounced his virulently antisemitic views.
GettyRussia’s ill-conceived invasion of Ukraine has so far failed to yield the goals set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his top propagandists are struggling to hide their growing sense of panic.On Monday, head of RT Margarita Simonyan appeared on The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov and admitted that the Kremlin’s collaborationist elite has concerns about the possibility of being tried for war crimes. After disingenuously claiming that neither the Russian leadership nor her fellow pr
Asked what happened to his one-time supporter, Sen. Bernie Sanders dramatically threw his hands up. Others say she's showing her true colors.
Republican Ohio Rep. Dave Joyce said Sunday that he didn't want to be drawn into commenting on Donald Trump's recent call to suspend the Constitution over baseless claims of 2020 election fraud. Joyce, the chair of the Republican Governance Group, a centrist group in the House, was asked by ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos to respond to Trump's post on Saturday on his Truth Social platform. Joyce initially declined to respond, saying he didn't know what Trump said on social media and that the public wasn't "interested in looking backwards."
"I sensed he was deeply remorseful about what had happened," the former vice president said
The Saturday Night Live cold open used Herschel Walker’s own slip ups and bizarre words against him to skewer his Senate bid, as the Republican Senate candidate in Georgia faces off against Democrat Raphael Warnock. In real life, Walker’s post-Election Day runoff has been marked by his comments about vampires and werewolves, as well as […]
Sen. Joni Ernst said the DNC gave "middle America the Middle finger" by making South Carolina the first state to nominate its presidential candidates.
"Well, here's the Republican playbook, facts don't matter, hypocrisy is not a constraint to their behavior," Jeffries told ABC News on Sunday.
It's not enough to ask the people for your vote. You have to earn it with civil discourse, respect and a clear view on issues that matter.
The Supreme Court is about to confront a new elections case, a Republican-led challenge asking the justices for a novel ruling that could significantly increase the power of state lawmakers over elections for Congress and the presidency. The court is set to hear arguments Wednesday in a case from North Carolina, where Republican efforts to draw congressional districts heavily in their favor were blocked by a Democratic majority on the state Supreme Court because the GOP map violated the state constitution. A court-drawn map produced seven seats for each party in last month's midterm elections in highly competitive North Carolina.
On Saturday, former President Donald Trump called for a "termination" of the constitution on his Truth Social platform.
Lara Trump will no longer be a paid contributor for Fox News after her father-in-law, Donald Trump, announced his 2024 presidential bid.