‘From This Moment Forth’

“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.” So wrote Donald Trump, the former American president, and the presumptive GOP presidential nominee right now. It is a typical statement. By “Birdbrain,” he means his challenger Nikki Haley. Why the word “contribution” is capitalized, and in quotation marks, I don’t know.

But back to the “Birdbrain” thing: Among Donald Trump’s supporters must be many parents of young children. Would they allow their children to engage in such name-calling? Why do they want it, or tolerate it, in their leader? A man who is 77 years old?

Trump’s full statement is here:

Millions and millions of people want this man to be president — again. In a way, the fundamental question has not changed since the summer of 2015, when Trump took that ride down the escalator: Is he fit, in mind and character, to be president? Tens of millions say yes; tens of millions say no — and here we are. Still.

• One by one, the Republican grandees, both in politics and in the media, capitulate to Trump — re-capitulate. We have seen it in the last several days. They kiss the ring. In private, they might tell you they “have to.” Politics demands it. Viewership, or listenership, or readership, demands it. But they don’t have to. It’s strictly voluntary. If they can defend their choices, great. But that’s what they are: choices.

We all make them, every day, in the various departments of life.

• A headline reads, “After two Trump wins, congressional Republicans again fall in line.” (Article here.) That could be a theme song of this era: “Fall in Line.”

• A colleague shared with me a verse of E. E. Cummings:

a politician is an arse upon
which everyone has sat except a man

• Nancy Mace, the South Carolina congresswoman, is a recent ring-kisser. John McCormack gives us a remembrance of something past — not that long ago:

• Ramesh Ponnuru begins a column starkly: “Among Republicans, the lie has won.” What lie? (There are many.) The lie that Joe Biden and the Democrats stole the 2020 election, of which Donald Trump was the legitimate winner. This lie has made the politics of our country a toxic dump.

• Another conservative columnist, George F. Will, writes, “Trump’s inversion of conservatism is complete. His prospective program features higher taxes at home and retreat abroad.”

• Have a look at this:

You don’t have to tell me twice. In fact, I like to think I was early: May 3, 2016 — the night that Trump won the Indiana primary, thereby clinching the Republican presidential nomination. I wrote about this in the next issue of National Review: “#ExGOP: The shock of disaffiliation.”

I had been a Republican since 1983, I believe — when I was a sophomore in college. I was a Republican for a lot longer than Donald Trump has been.

• Standing behind Trump as he gave his victory speech in New Hampshire were MTG, Vivek Ramaswamy, Tim Scott, and other GOP heavyweights. Ramaswamy made remarks of his own. He characterized the primary — Trump over Haley — as “America First defeating America Last.” Senator Scott applauded, as Christian Schneider noted.

(Haley, when she was governor, appointed Scott to the Senate, remember.)

My advice to young people: Never want it so bad — never want to be or stay in the game so bad; never want to hold power, or be near it, so bad — that you end up like this.

• Conservatives and political junkies may remember an old slogan: “A choice, not an echo.” Governor Haley offers a choice. She is a pre-Trump Republican, largely. For instance, she understands the stakes in Ukraine. She understands the American interest there. Yes, Trump will win the nomination, almost certainly. But I’m glad Haley is on the ballot — offering an alternative.

Everyone else is echoing. Haley gives voters — if they want it (and some do) — a choice.

• Some analysts have said, “Why did Haley play it so safe for so long? Why did she refuse to take risks? Why did she wait so long to draw clear contrasts between herself and Trump? What did she have to lose?”

I think of what my dad would say, on the golf course, when he left a putt short: “I’m protecting my lead.”

• My appetite for politics is much diminished — but I would like to see a debate between Trump and Haley. They are the only candidates left in the race for the GOP nomination. So, why not? (We know why — Trump is scairt.)

• In the last days of his presidential campaign, Ron DeSantis — who has, of course, endorsed Trump — was startlingly candid. For instance, he said this, about Trump and the media:

“He’s got basically a Praetorian Guard of the conservative media — Fox News, the websites, all this stuff. They just don’t hold him accountable because they’re worried about losing viewers. And they don’t want to have the ratings go down.”

DeSantis added,

“That’s just the reality. That’s just the truth, and I’m not complaining about it. I’d rather that not be the case. But that’s just, I think, an objective reality.”

Oh, it is. But remember: DeSantis was once the darling of these same outlets. The New York Post — Trump’s favorite newspaper — dubbed him “DeFuture.” Until he wasn’t …

The media follow the election returns too, so to speak.

• In Iowa, DeSantis and Haley tried to beat each other (and not so much Trump). DeSantis went so far as to invoke the devil himself — or herself:

Nice try (I guess).

• Ronna McDaniel went on Fox to urge Nikki Haley to drop out of the race. McDaniel — who for years used her middle name, “Romney,” until … — is the chairman of the Republican National Committee. Traditionally, party chairmen are neutral in presidential primaries. But the GOP is not really a traditional party right now. It is a Trump operation. All of them, except for a handful — Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney, et al. — have bent the knee. As I said above, we all make choices. And people are entitled to their choices. But I would ask of the Trumpites: Spare me the “anti-establishment” rhetoric. Spare me the claim that you are “outsiders,” fightin’ the Man, whoever he is. You own the whole thing, lock, stock, and barrel. For better or worse.