Tina Nguyen, writing for Puck (solidly paywalled), on Trump's nine, 10, or perhaps limitless lives:
"Last August, as F.B.I. agents hauled boxes of classified documents out of Mar-a-Lago, I surveyed a few Republican and MAGA operatives about how this latest legal woe might impact Donald Trump’s political
future. For a brief moment, the former president’s opponents entertained the notion that surely this would be the scandal that broke his hold over the Republican Party. Wasn’t Trump actively endangering national security by leaving sensitive nuclear secrets in his desk?
"But Trump’s allies were almost giddy about the optics, correctly recognizing the F.B.I. raid as an opportunity to galvanize the base, raise more money, and temporarily paralyze the 2024 field. 'Nobody is worried,' one G.O.P. insider told me at the time, relaying the sentiment around Mar-a-Lago. And worry they did not."
Nguyen's point is that Team Trump's insouciance was seemingly justified. Next came Republicans' disastrous midterms, for which the Orange Blight was almost single-handedly responsible. Then came Gov. Ron DeSantis's huge splash as a morbid, populist favorite of anti-wokeness. And yet eight months after the F.B.I. raid and nearly five months subsequent to Trump's carpet-bombing of congressional Republicans, he "has only gained strength in G.O.P. polls," writes Nguyen.
She continues:
"I asked a number of Republicans close to the top candidates to predict how an indictment would affect Trump’s campaign, and whether it would boost his standing in the GOP presidential primary. The overwhelming consensus was succinctly captured by Alex Bruesewitz, CEO of the MAGA-focused consulting firm X Strategies: 'Trump wins.'
"This assessment doesn’t come only from MAGA-blinded Trump allies, either: Republicans across the spectrum, from DeSantis fans to Never Trumpers, echoed Bruesewitz’s conclusion."
I remain unconvinced. No political commentator worth his or her cyberspace ever goes without saying, in such a situation, that a day in politics can be an eternity. What, then, is almost a year until the primaries?
DeSantis has just barely stepped onto the national stage, and he's still an undeclared candidate. Big GOP money has expressed a preference for him, and he's undergoing austere tutorials in the polishing of his retail skills.
There is a long, long way to go until primary days. And on every one of them, Trump's felonious behavior, criminal indictments and fatuous legal wranglings will hog the headlines. His base may indeed be initially enthralled by his "persecution" and thus more motivated to back him.
But all the above-the-fold poundings will take their toll, I should think. The novelty of supporting a neon-blinking criminal for the presidency — in terms of electability — could soon have thumbs egressing from the base's ass.
I hope not. I hope they double down in their primary support of Trump. For I also hope that the Orange Blight is the 2024 face of the Republican Party.
Trump is a joke, but DeSantis scares me.