Thursday, February 23, 2023

Trump Violates the Eleventh Commandment

You probably recall, wistfully, that Ronald Reagan once counseled Republicans against speaking ill of other Republicans. He called it the Eleventh Commandment and clearly he designed it to promote Republican electoral fortunes. Didn't Benjamin Franklin say that his fellow revolutionaries should hang together, lest they hang separately?

 But now, we live in a different time and we have a different species of politician. Consider the case of Donald Trump. In truth, the former president seems these days to be doing nothing but speaking ill of his fellow Republicans. Perhaps he has a better idea. Perhaps he is rejecting Reagan’s commandment. 

 If he has a better idea I am confident that my readers will enlighten us all. Tearing the Republican Party apart does not feel like a winning strategy. Then again, perhaps Trump knows that he is going to lose the nomination, but that he wants to destroy the Republican Party by running as a third party candidate. Perhaps he feels underappreciated.

Then again, perhaps he is simply a sore loser, and cannot accept that the party might have moved beyond him, thus, that the presidential nomination is not just his for the asking.

 Anyway, Powerline elicited these thoughts with the following post (via Maggie’s Farm):

 Former President Trump has railed against the New York Post, one of the nation’s top tabloid newspapers, after it published an extensive profile of possible 2024 White House candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over the weekend.

***

“In writer Salena Zito’s Fake News “puff piece” about DeSantis, which supposedly appeared in the dying New York Post, which is way down in readership just like FoxNews is way down in Ratings, why doesn’t she mention that he wants to cut Social Security & Medicare, loves losers like Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, and Karl Rove, and is getting CLOBBERED in the polls by me,” Trump wrote on Sunday on Truth Social. “DeSantis is a RINO who is trying to hide his past. I don’t read the New York Post anymore. It has become Fake News, just like Fox & WSJ!”

 Now, Trump has a new enemies list. Powerline tells us who has made the list:

 Former President Trump has railed against the New York Post, one of the nation’s top tabloid newspapers, after it published an extensive profile of possible 2024 White House candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over the weekend.

***

“In writer Salena Zito’s Fake News “puff piece” about DeSantis, which supposedly appeared in the dying New York Post, which is way down in readership just like FoxNews is way down in Ratings, why doesn’t she mention that he wants to cut Social Security & Medicare, loves losers like Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, and Karl Rove, and is getting CLOBBERED in the polls by me,” Trump wrote on Sunday on Truth Social. “DeSantis is a RINO who is trying to hide his past. I don’t read the New York Post anymore. It has become Fake News, just like Fox & WSJ!”

So, let’s add it up. Trump now hates:

* The New York Post, increasingly a top outlet for conservatives, having been vindicated in its coverage of Joe Biden’s corruption.

 * Salena Zito, who more than any other journalist has covered Trump’s voters intelligently and sympathetically.

 * Ron DeSantis, America’s most outstanding governor and a top presidential contender.

* Fox News.

 * The Wall Street Journal.

 And of course, these are not the only bridges Trump has burned. One has to wonder what is left for Trump. How much more selective can he afford to make his appeal?

 Burning bridges-- that seems to summarize it. But, clearly, Trump is not presenting himself as a confident winner. He is presenting himself as someone who is getting ready to lose. 

 I trust that I have missed the genius of this approach, and I anxiously await those of you who will set me straight.

 


8 comments:

IamDevo said...

Not genius, by any stretch. Trump acts on instinct and his instincts are influenced by his ego, which is orders of magnitude larger than most. One does not achieve the heights of worldly success that he has without correspondingly large amounts of ego, by and large. His ego is both the source of his indefatigable energy and drive as well as his biggest fault. Unfortunately, it seems that he is unable to see things without focusing through his lens of ego. I wish it were otherwise, but it is not.

JPL17 said...

Trump's working overtime to make Never Trumpers out of a large chunk of his voters. I want to shake him.

Anonymous said...

If you ignore the last 6 years of Republicans/Rinos speaking against Trump then I can see how you might believe Trump is wrong. But in fact so many Republicans are traitors to our country and I speak against them proudly. Trump is blunt and offends those who prefer the swamp but he is head and shoulders above the next best candidate. I like DeSantis and I hope he runs for president, someday. But if Trump runs I vote for Trump, he is one of the few honest and patriotic politicians alive today. Look around, your country is going down the toilet and all the Rino's can think of is giving money to Ukraine or agreeing to amnesty for illegals. The Dems blatantly stole the 2020 election and still most Republicans in congress will deny it because they want to fit in and get reelected and could give a shit less about you or the country.

Bizzy Brain said...

First off, there will never be another Republican President until election fraud is minimized. Secondly, the vast majority of "Trump baggage" is manufactured by a Trump-hating media. Thirdly, an altar boy nominee who moves the Republican Party "beyond Trump" will never receive the same level of support that Trump would. I believe ballot fraud is the biggest issue facing the country and if that can't be rectified before the 2024 election, then the country is, indeed, over.

Walt said...

I’m with Stuart on this one. And yes, DeSantis can win in the general election (where Trump can’t) because a) he can attract Independents and disheartened Democrats (where Trump can’t) and b) Trump is alienating even people who voted for him to twice . And while it’s true that the crazy left would gladly indict him over a ham sandwich—even one they made up— his out of control behavior is a self-indictment.

JPL17 said...

Replying to Anonymous's comment, "If you ignore the last 6 years of Republicans/Rinos speaking against Trump then I can see how you might believe Trump is wrong."

You're forgetting that Reagan was reviled by establishment Republicans and RINOS for many years; yet he managed to refrain from publicly insulting them, and ended up working successfully with them after he won.

Anonymous said...

I'm forgetting nothing. No politician in my lifetime (I'm 80) has ever received the support and numbers of supporters that Trump has. DeSantis may someday but hasn't yet. And that is why the left and the Rinos want to destroy Trump. He is the only person able to turn this disaster around. DeSantis won't. He will nibble around the edges and THAT is why he will get support from the America haters while Trump will get subpoenas. They are destroying the country and only Trump could possibly stop it so if the only way to stop Trump is to vote for DeSantis than that is what they will tell you to do.

Ares Olympus said...

Trump broke Reagan's 11th commandment, "Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican" from day 1.

From when he claimed fraud in the Republican Iowa causes in 2016, from connecting Ted Cruz to assassination of JFK, from every political "debate" where he was willing to say anything to tear anyone else down. And he won largely because of plurality. You don't need the best majority but the most passionate minority, and Trump admitted he could shoot someone and his followers would presume the target had it coming. Absolute trust from his base. I've talked to such Trump-supporter neighbors - one said 100% of Democrats as pedophiles and 80% of Republicans. Only "patriots can save us from the deep state" they say proudly.

So it all worked worked for Trump. It has worked every time. Every single Republican came crawling back to him, begging for forgiveness. And he was rewarded every step, with two impeachments blocked by near unity support.

So why would he change? What incentive does Trump have try to seeing someone besides himself as the center of the universe?

The reality of politics is the best assets for the Democrats are Republicans speaking, and the best assets of the Republicans are Democrats speaking.