Yesterday, Natalie Andrews and Eliza Collins reported that as Republicans prepare for the midterms they are unified around Señor Trumpanzee's platform, if not around the controversial, corrupt Putin-puppet himself. (On Saturday night, New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu-- who is up for reelection in November-- skewered Trump, calling him "fucking crazy... The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out!" Most Republican officials would agree with Sununu on Trump's mental health. But how many would say it in a roomful of reporters?) Andrews and Collins wrote that "Interviews with about two dozen lawmakers at a recent House gathering in the Sunshine State and back in Washington show a party still grappling with how much wiggle room lawmakers have in their relationship with Trump and his politically polarizing persona. At the same time, most are embracing his record on such issues as immigration and energy policy, as they draw a contrast with President Biden and his fellow Democrats, who control the House and Senate."
Meanwhile, Sununu also noted something else that few Republicans would dare say aloud, this time about far right, meth-brain money-bags Mike Lindell: "This guy’s head is stuffed with more crap than his pillows. And by the way, I was told not to say this, but I will: His stuff is crap. I mean, it's absolute crap. You only find that kind of stuff in the Trump hotel."
Back to the GOP hive-mind-- ummm... Republican Party unity. I wonder how many Republican elected official agreed with Trump's speech Saturday night in Michigan when he talked about sending American troops back into Afghanistan. Listen to this:
The media-- and Democratic candidates-- ought to start asking Republicans how they feel about that. Tom Nelson, the progressive in the Wisconsin race for the U.S. Senate, already did. Alan Grayson is the progressive taking on Lil' Marco is Florida. "Rubio," he told me this afternoon, "would be in favor of returning U.S. troops to Afghanistan to oust the Soviet occupiers, in favor of the British colonialists and their Indian servants. 'Earth to Rubio, Earth to Rubio...'"
But not all GOP elected officials see Trump as either a laughing stock or a compulsive liar. Freshman Rep. Lisa McClain-- generally considered somewhere between Lauren Boebert and Madison Cawthorn on the congressional intellectual capacity spectrum-- was at the Trump rally in her home state Saturday night. Trump asked her to go onstage to sing her praises. She claimed he "caught Osama bin Laden, Soleimani [and] al-Baghdadi." As USA Today's reporter at the event pointed out, "Trump was a private citizen in 2011, when President Obama authorized the mission that killed bin Laden." During her speech-- likely more based on her trademarked ignorance than intentional deceit-- McCalin said "While President Trump was in office, we didn't have a war and I think he made three peace treaties, caught Osama bin Laden and Soleimani, al-Baghdadi. And this president is weak. And I'll tell you weakness breeds aggression. We need strength. We need somebody who will stand up for America and put America first again like President Donald J. Trump did when he was in office." The Michigan zombies in the audience cheered gleefully, every bit as stupid and ignorant as their elected leaders.