Even Donald Trump doesn't like the forces that Donald Trump has set loose in American life
They're bad for the campaign.
There’s a hilarious story in Politico this morning about Donald Trump, and his worries that Pennsylvania’s Doug Mastriano will run for Senate in 2024.
The former president has privately told Republicans he fears that Mastriano, a far-right state lawmaker in a critical battleground, would hurt him in a general election if they were on the top of the ticket together next year, according to three people familiar with the conversations.
Mastriano, who attempted to overturn the 2020 election and sought to outlaw abortion with no exceptions, lost Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial contest last November by 15 percentage points. His tease of a comeback bid has sparked alarm within GOP circles that he would cost the party any conceivable chance they had of unseating Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) in 2024.
“Trump’s not dumb,” said a top GOP donor who was granted anonymity to speak frankly about private deliberations. “He knows Mastriano will hurt him in Pennsylvania.”
Why is this hilarious?
Snubbing Mastriano would be a 180 from last year, when Trump defied Republican leaders in the state and D.C., and officially backed him days before the primary.
That’s right. Like Doctor Frankenstein, Donald Trump made a monster — and now risks being destroyed by it.
This is becoming something of a running theme.
Trump deserves credit for the lightning fast (as these things go) development of the first coronavirus vaccines, but he also catalyzed the forces that turned the GOP into effectively an anti-vax party — he’s even been booed for admitting he got a booster shot. And Trump appointed the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade — now he’s gone silent on abortion, seeing the issue as a drag for Republicans in the next election.
There’s nothing particularly principled about any of these concerns. Trump’s abiding interest in life is whatever will help him win, ethical considerations be damned, but he only thinks about the short-term. Now the long-term forces he has unleashed threaten his next short-term goal, of winning the presidency back in 2024. If the fate of the nation weren’t involved, it would be worth a good laugh.
"“Trump’s not dumb,” said a top GOP donor who was granted anonymity to speak frankly about private deliberations. “He knows Mastriano will hurt him in Pennsylvania.”"
I don't believe that Donald Trump doesn't want Mastriano to run, and I don't believe that Trump knows Mastriano will lose for him. We remember who Trump chose to endorse. He could weaken--if not destroy--a candidate in a primary if he wanted to.
I believe a top GOP donor is not dumb--just naive enough to think that Donald Trump will finally change one of these days.