It’s Time to Call the Always-Trump Faction’s Bluff

If the Republican Party wishes to have a shot at winning the 2024 presidential election, the sizeable portion of its members who remain immune to Donald Trump’s medieval-era demands of absolute fealty are going to need to stop quivering, come out from under their beds, and tell their tormenters in no uncertain terms that they should feel free to go ahead and shoot the phantasmic hostages they insist they’re keeping in the attic.

I am told — sometimes as a threat, sometimes under the guise of “analysis” — that if Donald Trump loses the primary next year, the minority of Republican voters who tell pollsters that they will vote for him and for him alone will sit out the general election and guarantee President Biden a second term. This is untrue. It is a lie, a falsehood, a ploy. It is an empty promise, based upon an assumption of potency, numerical strength, and broad-based monomania that is simply not in evidence. Certainly, the Always Trump contingent makes a lot of noise, but, practically speaking, they do not matter. Should they fail to get their way in the primary, they will end up being as impotent in 2023 as were the Never Trumpers in 2016. It is time, at long last, for mainstream Republicans to call their bluff.

About the Author

Charles C. W. Cooke

Charles C. W. Cooke is a senior editor at National Review and the host of The Charles C. W. Cooke Podcast.

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If the Republican Party wishes to have a shot at winning the 2024 presidential election, the sizeable portion of its members who remain immune to Donald Trump’s medieval-era demands of absolute fealty are going to need to stop quivering, come out from under their beds, and tell their tormenters in no uncertain terms that they should feel free to go ahead and shoot the phantasmic hostages they insist they’re keeping in the attic.

I am told — sometimes as a threat, sometimes under the guise of “analysis” — that if Donald Trump loses the primary next year, the minority of Republican voters who tell pollsters that they will vote for him and for him alone will sit out the general election and guarantee President Biden a second term. This is untrue. It is a lie, a falsehood, a ploy. It is an empty promise, based upon an assumption of potency, numerical strength, and broad-based monomania that is simply not in evidence. Certainly, the Always Trump contingent makes a lot of noise, but, practically speaking, they do not matter. Should they fail to get their way in the primary, they will end up being as impotent in 2023 as were the Never Trumpers in 2016. It is time, at long last, for mainstream Republicans to call their bluff.