All of the top Republican contenders are now saying Trump lost.
As a political calculation DeSantis (who we favor for the nomination at this time as events unfold) saying Trump lost was in our judgement unnecessary and impolitic especially given that 68% of Republicans believe with plenty of evidence including their own eyes (D’Souza videos and book and more recent revelations) that Biden “won” the 2020 by fraud.
We wish DeSantis would have responded with something like our basic contention about the election, a rendition of which follows in italics below. Keep in mind any statement at this stage ought to be intended for Republican voters even if with some artful vagaries but with a definitive end to the discussion.
in retrospect it is apparent that the election was fraught with illegalities and appearance of illegalities, sloppy or non existent signature voter verification processes, chain of custody issues, incongruous data dumps and anomalies, eye witness testimony to be investigated, and more, sufficient to justify pausing the election certification in relevant states pursuant to emergency judicial hearings on the evidence combined with forensic audits if necessary, prior to the final declaration of a winner in those states. That was not done and the republic would have been better served had political leadership insisted on it, Democrat and Republican together. But that ship has sailed. Returning to practical politics he might have gone on to say . . . Regardless, at this point we are faced with the destruction wrought by the Biden Crime Family presidency and the question now is who is the best candidate to go forward unencumbered who can win in November and restore America’s economy, protect the border, deal with China from a position of strength, and reduce overreaching government as I have done in my state . . .
But DeSantis didn’t ask us nor any of the others and “the ship has sailed” for all of them although maybe DeSantis has the most room to revise and extended his remarks. Here is what we have so far regarding quotes about election 2020 from the most notable contenders. They are pulled from links in a WaPo article in no particular order:
Baier asked Haley during their interview whether she believed the 2020 election results were legitimate.
“Do I think Joe Biden is the legitimate president?” she said. “Yes. He’s a bad one at that.”
“I do not believe the election was stolen,” Scott said in response to a question at a town hall event here. “There was cheating, but was the election stolen? There’s a difference. I think [in] every election there’s cheating.”
It is noteworthy that here Christie is criticizing DeSantis for being reticent about definitively saying Biden won
CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, I still don’t think he (DeSantis) answered it. Right? He lost. Well, we all know that, as a matter of law, he lost the election. Right? The deeper question and the one that I think he is dodging is, do you believe it was a full and fair election? That’s really the question. And with respect to the interviewer, I think she let him off the hook. I mean, in the end, did he lose? Of course, he lost, and I believe he lost because he lost in a full and fair election.
Also noteworthy is that Ramaswamy is said to be the number two pick of many Trump supporters
Vivek Ramaswamy, It was a dark day for democracy. The loser of the last election refused to concede the race, claimed the election was stolen, raised hundreds of millions of dollars from loyal supporters, and is considering running for executive office again.
I’m referring, of course, to Donald Trump.
We know, why bother, but here goes:
“First of all, I don’t believe the election was stolen, and I respect the results,”
We were initially chagrinned, and still are to an extent, hearing DeSantis’ unprepared, clumsy kind of rambling comments about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. Trump voters never got their day in court and DeSantis should realize that many of them perceive the nomination and general election as their chance to make the case. Not understanding and accommodating that sentiment was why we say his response was a missed opportunity and does not help his chances.
That said, it does not seem that any of the Republican candidates except Christie want to spend their time fighting 2020 (Christie is in tune with praising the result) when it is most important to deal with 2024. And with what is coming out about the Biden Crime Family, Biden is well on his way to delegitimizing himself.
We understand that DeSantis may be thinking that saying that 2020 was rigged or acknowledging the evidence of rigging and the appropriateness of a timely, even if emergency, process to verify evidence etc, which was never entertained by the system, would be to say Trump deserves election this time around. But putatively wronged in 2020 does not make Trump the best candidate in 2024. There were many internal Trump administration dynamics that were problematic then and we are not confident have been resolved.
But back to the current situation.
Assuming the enemy, violating the rules of war, cheated in earnest and blockaded and later severely damaged Battleship Trump — that does not make Battleship Trump the best vessel to lead the next battle. However it is reason to authenticate the matter with deliberate speed and if “war criminals” are found send them to jail. But the decisive 2024 battle needs to be addressed first. Everything needs to be about winning in 2024. Getting to the bottom of 2020 is actually secondary given the state of emergency. Fighting the last war is not the best strategy.
We are not convinced Trump is the best candidate to win in 2024 or even to get to the bottom of 2020. He does not have an unassailable record, seriously so in several areas we have elaborated on in other posts.
Trump supporters insist he has learned a lot. OK, and others can’t learn from his mistakes or what he was up against? We are not convinced Trump has learned enough positive until he is drawn out on the various subjects and that requires debating others. And keep in mind ours is not properly a government entirely of executive orders.
We need the best person who can win and smoothly perform the extensive governmental house cleaning that needs to happen. We saw that the star of The Apprentice is a lousy personnel chief. But we have not seen adequate evidence he has learned thoroughly enough not to be his own worst enemy.
We believe Governor DeSantis has in the crucible of Florida exhibited far more acumen in all that is necessary to successfully do what needs to be done.
Trump double taps his foot
Trump, while a good man otherwise, has exhibited unbecoming arrogance and petulance on two matters that deserve to be in the first case onerous and in the second disqualifying for Republicans wanting a ballot position.
First off — not debating the other candidates should be treated as an affront to Republicans. Trump is toying with not doing so. His expressed attitude is to the effect ~~ Why should I when I am so far ahead~~. Our response is that: because half the party is not in your corner for the nomination and failing to debate will not improve your standing with them and is an insult to the party and its functions. I think it smacks of Biden hiding in the basement avoiding real confrontation even if Trump does get out and give basically canned rallies.
Furthermore Biden may not be the actual Dem nominee and we need to see who performs the best with today’s issues and what Trump has learned. Which candidate is more incisive on the attack against what the Democrats have done and expressing what he or she will do.
The clincher as to disqualifying someone for the party nomination as far as we are concerned is in refusing to pledge to support the nominee. If we remember correctly Trump played that game some back in 2016 although he did sign. He has not signed a pledge as yet. Toying the issue was unbecoming then but far worse now.
He could sign the pledge and be viable and still not debate, the latter stupid but not formally disqualifying in and of itself.
With regard to Trumps refusal to sign a pledge one must ask, who the heck does Trump think has any chance of winning the Republican nomination, that is so bad compared to a Democrat? Even Chris Christy or Asa Hutchinson for that matter, both impossible wins, would be better than any Democrat.
Even publicly toying with the idea tears it for us as it is insulting to the majority of Republicans. Does Trump think the Republican apparat has the inclination and will actually fix the results, extending from his handpicked RNC Chair? The same apparat that in state after state organized to benefit all Republican candidates. How might that be done? Our message to Trump is we are not cheating Democrats so don’t imply it while pleading to be the party’s standard bearer. With his continuing demurral it seems he just wants to breed resentment and hurt party unity. He is the only candidate who has not signed the pledge.
Refusing or being coy about not supporting the nominee if it does not go your way is the attitude ~~ I’ve been scorned (never mind that Trump as a matter of course in his 8 years as a politician unfairly scorns others) . . . and now I will take my ball home and the hell with the country~~.
To fulfill such a pledge he does not have to do anything other than say something to the effect ~~ I hope everyone votes for the Republican nominee ~~ and not act against that.
Or the refusal is an utter ego trip, used as a veiled threat to run as a third party candidate. There is no third party on the ballot in all the states that he could win with. There is no opportunity for any more to get on the ballot. It is politically insane. Even toying with the idea given the threat Democrats pose precludes Trump as thinking straight or being in line with the best interests of the country. It is rightly disqualifying.
We must stand for the rule of law, all else is superfluous.