Conservative pundit Charlie Sykes threw cold water on the idea that Republicans are going to quietly move on from Donald Trump after the GOP’s lackluster midterm results. According to him, the former president isn’t going to let them.
Republicans expected to take the House by a wide margin, but appear headed for a slim majority. Meanwhile, the GOP’s hopes of winning the Senate are nearly dashed.
During the Republican primaries, Trump endorsed a host of candidates who repeated his false claim the 2020 election was stolen from him. He also backed many first-time candidates and fringe figures who were ill-suited for the seats they were running for. This, many Republican luminaries have said, hobbled Republicans at the polls in Tuesday’s midterm elections, where the GOP underperformed.
On Thursday, Trump had an epic meltdown and lashed out at the Murdoch media empire and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who cruised to reelection on Tuesday. DeSantis is seen as a star of the Republican Party and a potential 2024 presidential candidate.
After playing a montage of conservatives blaming Trump for the election fiasco, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle asked Sykes if the party is really done with Trump during Thursday’s 11th Hour.
“Charlie, are you buying this?” Ruhle asked. “Are Republicans finally leaving him?”
“The Republicans bought the ticket and they’re gonna take this ride again with Donald Trump,” he answered. “He’s signaling by his meltdown over down in Mar-a-Lago over the last 12 hours is that he’s prepared to burn it all down. They may be done with him, but he is not done with them.”
“What does that mean?” Ruhle asked.
“It basically means, ‘I’m not going quietly. I’m going to announce next week,’” Sykes responded, mimicking a hypothetical Trump response while alluding to his “very big announcement” on Monday. “‘I don’t care who I hurt. If you do not nominate me, I will burn the house down. I will destroy and attack any other Republican that comes against me.’”
Ruhle retorted that conservative media outlets and the Republican donor class appears to be turning against Trump.
“But Charlie, they are turning on him,” she said. “Conservative media is turning on him. The donor class is welcoming Ron DeSantis in. It’s happening. So where exactly does the big fear of Donald Trump lie? He’s a senior citizen living in his private home in Florida and New Jersey. He’s unemployed. Who’s he going to hurt?”
“Yes, well I have the scars to answer your question here because what he’s done is he’s got 30 to 40% of the Republican base that will go with him,” Sykes replied. “And so let’s say in some fantasy world that Ron DeSantis beats Donald Trump, that he actually has the guts to go up against Donald Trump and face down these threats of destruction. And he beats him, let’s say 60-40. What is going to happen to that 40%? Does Donald Trump ever go away?”
Sykes cited past instances where some believed Republicans would distance themselves from Trump, but did not:
Look, this is a party that stuck with him through Charlottesville that stuck with him for that shambolic four years, that did not walk away when he was defeated, that didn’t walk away after he orchestrated an insurrection at the Capitol.
And now because he has led them to this underperformance in the midterms, they’re going to do something that they’ve been incapable of doing for the last six years? Donald Trump looks at the Republican establishment and says, “These are weak people. I have crushed them in the past. They will cave in to me. They have done it in the past and they will do it again.”
That is what he’s calculating.
Watch above via MSNBC.
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