When it comes to pulling off coups in 2021, Donald Trump is 0 for 2. The latest, of course, being his failed effort to depose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
I recently documented how Trump’s political endorsements don’t matter much in the outside game of GOP primary elections. It turns out, neither do his condemnations in the inside game of Senate leadership contests. At least, that’s what this Politico headline suggests: “GOP blows off Trump’s bid to oust McConnell.”
As the story recounts, Trump has tried in vain to topple McConnell—likely as retribution for McConnell’s decision to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory. McConnell’s blistering comments about the Jan. 6 attack accelerated Trump’s fervor (ironically, after McConnell voted not to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial).
But Trump has recently turned up the heat. “How this guy can stay as Leader is beyond comprehension,” Trump recently wrote. “[T]his is coming not only from me, but from virtually everyone in the Republican Party. He is a disaster and should be replaced as ‘Leader’ ASAP!”
The only problem? No sitting Republican Senators agree with Trump, and only two Republican candidates for Senate (Alaska’s Kelly Tshibaka and Missouri’s Eric Greitens) have endorsed this notion.
Old Man Trump Is Looking Weaker and Weaker—Sad!
It would be a mistake to read too much into this. As conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru noted, despite documented signs of weakness within the GOP, “Trump retains great strength in the party and remains its most powerful leader” and, simultaneously “is also stronger than he looks.”
This paradox rings true: Trump is the obvious frontrunner to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, and he clearly lacks the authority to persuade or impose his will in other ways. He is powerful and talented, but also lazy and incompetent. Put otherwise, he is formidable but not unbeatable. Seeing his enemies prosper is…
Source : yahoo
