Our most recent book is titled Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics. The 2024 race has begun.
On Wednesday night, eight Republicans clashed in Milwaukee. The debate was more than simply an audition to be the former guy’s running mate. Over the course of two hours, real differences emerged within the field. Donald Trump’s impregnable lead remains intact.
Ron DeSantis dodged the question of whether Mike Pence did the right thing on January 6. Florida’s governor emerged diminished. Tim Scott won the vice-president wannabe contest. An oleaginous and belligerent Vivek Ramaswamy repeatedly puckered-up to Joe Biden’s predecessor.
Nikki Haley, Trump’s UN ambassador, jabbed at the Trump administration’s spending record, called him the “most disliked politician in America”, and defended aid to Ukraine.
Chris Christie dinged Trump and Hunter Biden. New Jersey’s former governor also reminded the audience of the Trump-Putin bromance and Russia’s lawlessness.
On January 6, a mob prepared makeshift gallows for Mike Pence to his former boss’s delectation. With the cameras rolling, Pence again embraced the “Trump-Pence” label.
As the 45th president avoided his competitors, his legal woes mount. His bail in Georgia is set at $200,000, conditioned on not threatening witnesses or co-defendants.
On Tuesday night, a filing by the special counsel’s office laid out a failed effort to destroy Mar-a-Lago videos when faced with a federal grand jury subpoena. Trump as mob boss, Goodfellas repeats itself.
His interview with Tucker Carlson, where he reveled in the prospect of civil war and bloodshed, did not confer the immunity he so badly craves.
