First Republican presidential debate
It was not Mr. Trump’s chief rival in the polls, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who emerged at the epicenter of the first Trump-free showdown on Wednesday, but instead the political newcomer Vivek Ramaswamy, whose unlikely rise has revealed the remarkable degree to which the former president has remade the party. …
All eight candidates mostly jostled for position among themselves, and few targeted the front-runner who is set to surrender on Thursday after his fourth criminal indictment.
(The New York Times, August 24, 2023)
Frankly, this debate played out like everything about Donald Trump does. Namely, despite all the hype, it was as predictable as night following day.
The Fox News audience
The audience cheered and jeered as though they were watching a WWE Battle Royal Smackdown, not a presidential debate. But that, too, was entirely predictable. After all, Trump turned the Republican Party into little more than his personality cult worshippers.
He predicated his presidential campaign and presidency on offering them more gladiatorial performances than governing policies. And debate host Fox News led the media in aiding and abetting him as he turned American politics into a reality TV show of political stunts and rhetorical insults.
Vivek Ramaswamy trumped
Ramaswamy spent most of the night channeling Trump with half-truths, outrageous quips, and personal insults. And Trump has turned most media pundits into Pavlovian dogs. So it’s no wonder they hailed Ramaswamy as the winner.
Yet they are praising Nikki Haley for putting him in his place.
Her most aggressive moments came during an intense back-and-forth with Mr. Ramaswamy about Ukraine aid. She came charging at him: ‘You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows.’
(New York Times, August 24, 2023)
The irony seems completely lost on them that Republican presidential candidates said the same thing about Trump during their first 2016 presidential debate.
But the irony of ironies is that Ramaswamy kept letting his wannabe Barack Obama upstage his Trumpian antics. Chris Christie even called him out for coming across too much like Obama. Ramaswamy should have responded by reminding everyone that Obama won twice. But he was too hellbent on channeling Trump.
Even so, Christie was right. MAGA Republicans would never admit it. But Vivek Ramaswamy is the GOP’s answer to Barack Obama: Not only is he more Trumpian than Trump, but he has a brain and a natural tan to boot.
And remember, Hillary was even more of a lock for the Democratic nomination in 2008 than Trump is for the Republican nomination in 2024. So…
Meanwhile, to make it in Trump’s GOP, non-Whites like Vivek and Tim Scott have to say racist things no self-respecting White racist would say. That explains so much of what both men said last night – to their everlasting shame.
Nikki Haley almost won
Nikki Haley was doing so well. That is, until the moderator asked the candidates to raise a hand if they would vote for Trump even if he’s convicted on one of his four indictments. Six, including Haley, did. Only Christie and Asa Hutchinson did not.
Haley lost the debate and her credibility at that point. This was a moment to show leadership. Instead, she pandered to the MAGA crowd.
Everyone knows Trump has convinced them that he should rule for life even if he is a convicted felon. And this, despite his declared intent to destroy American democracy and America’s democratic alliances.
Simply put, for MAGA Republicans, Trump can do no wrong. But Haley unwittingly showed that she thinks so, too. As it happens, I presaged this moment in “Nikki Haley Cannot Be President – She Does Not Have the Courage or Character” on February 1, 2023.
Chris Christie Flubbed
The media overhyped this debate by telegraphing Chris Christie’s plan to eviscerate Ron DeSantis the way he famously eviscerated Marco Rubio in 2016. But, DeSantis was so rote with his woke rhetoric, Christie saw no need to even try.
Instead, he tried “to Rubio” everyone while pandering to MAGA Republicans. But he flubbed both on both counts.
Hell, he even seemed panicked. That alone explains Christie’s assertion that the answer to cities plagued by gun violence and flash mob robberies is putting Hunter Biden in jail for ten years for illegal gun possession.
Trump to surrender
Trump will surrender at Fulton County jail later today for his fourth arrest. Yet, the media’s endless coverage suggests it’s unprecedented. Of course, they’re providing it because, like rubbernecking car wrecks, people cannot resist looking every time.
That said, here’s the real news on Trump today:
Former President Donald Trump has replaced his top Georgia lawyer ahead of his surrender Thursday evening, sources tell CNN.
In replacing Drew Findling with Steven Sadow, an Atlanta-based attorney whose website profile describes him as a ‘special counsel for white collar and high-profile defense,’ Trump is adding an attorney who has previously challenged the state’s broad RICO law, under which Trump and his 18 co-defendants have been charged.
(CNN, August 24, 2023)
Of course, “everything Trump touches dies.” The chain gang of lawyers surrendering at the Fulton County jail this week proves it.
Findling should’ve known this. So it serves him right to end up humiliated with his reputation in ruins. No self-respecting lawyer would even represent Trump. Yet Trump has now dumped him.