'Animal instinct for weakness': columnist explains how Trump keeps Republicans in line

Former President Donald Trump's dubious displays of dominance fail in almost every arena except the one that he's determined to command; the Republican party, according to a new political analysis.

Atlantic columnist McCay Coppins penned a piece Thursday arguing Trump's purported ability to "dominate" has only ever proven true among his fellow Republicans.

“It’s funny. In the business world and in the entertainment world, I don’t think Donald was able to intimidate people as much ... But he has all these senators in the fetal position," ex-Trump adviser Sam Nunberg told the Atlantic. "They do whatever he wants."

Coppins argued Trump has an "animal instinct for weakness" that allowed for some kind of psychological jujutsu over elected Republicans, so desperate to keep their jobs they'd do anything.

“They’re good at keeping their jobs, not their promises," Nunberg recalled writing in a Trump speech. Trump read it at the time and laughed.

“It’s so true,” he said, according to Nunberg. “That’s all they care about.”

Coppins argues Trump offered them a new way to keep their jobs.

"As long as you did your best to look like you were obeying," Coppins writes, "you could expect to keep winning your primaries."

Where that has come into conflict is the divide between the GOP and the general electorate, which is going further and further away from the party.

"Republicans in Congress might be the only ostensibly powerful people in America who will allow him to boss them around, humiliate them, and assert unbridled dominance over them," he closed. "They’ve made the myth true. How could he possibly walk away now?"

Read the full piece here.