One thing to note with everything we’re seeing this weekend. Folks like Reince Priebus were supposed to be the ones to keep the Trump White House on something like the straight and narrow. That never really made sense to me. But that was the idea. That is clearly not happening. But as a colleague pointed out to me this evening, it’s Priebus who is the most visible cheerleader defending the ugliest and most feral Trump White House actions. He was out today defending the egregious de-Judaized Holocaust statement. He’s insisting the weekend immigration debacle is making America great again. He’s not just on board. He’s the top cheerleader.
The same applies to Ryan and McConnell. There are a non-trivial number of Republicans saying this is unacceptable. But both of these men are totally onboard with Trump. Not a shred of disagreement is uttered.
These three men – the leaders in each House and the former Chairman of the RNC – are the establishment in every sense. They are 100% on board.
I will say this does not surprise me. But as I’ve said in other contexts, if I were a Republican, I would be very concerned. And I don’t mean in some moral sense. I mean in the most pragmatic, cynical political sense. They are cheerleading every transgression. They are owning it in its entirety.
