'Could Republicans dump Trump?' Conservative says it's time to ask about mental fitness

The Republican Party can no longer ignore that former President Donald Trump, Republican nominee and convicted felon, appears to be losing the thread, a conservative analyst argued Friday.

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin condemned political coverage of the controversial candidate and demanded a new narrative similar to that faced earlier this summer by President Joe Biden.

"Trump seems unable to handle reality," Rubin wrote. "One wonders when we will hear and see reports about 'Republican panic!' or 'Could Republicans dump Trump?'"

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This argument comes months after the New York Times responded to Biden's disastrous presidential debate by calling on him to withdraw from his own campaign.

Biden's eventual acquiescence shocked the nation and Vice President Kamala Harris' swift ascent energized the party and American voters appearing by the tens of thousands at her political rallies.

But Rubin does not believe calls on Trump to resign will arrive, despite the growing number of voices raising concerns about his mental health, she wrote.

Among those voices are George Conway, the conservative anti-Trump attorney who called Trump's claim that AI was responsible for images of Harris' crowds "beyond question, delusional."

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of the Atlantic, said last month Trump's rants call into question, "not only his fitness for office but his basic cognitive abilities."

Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer described the AI claim as "maybe the most bat-guano crazy thing I’ve seen in 40 years of covering presidential elections.”

Rubin calls out news outlet Axios' coverage of the same claim that included the comment that "Trump’s advisers and allies worry he’s spending so much time in an alternative reality that it’s undermining his real-world campaign.”

She retorted, "How about asking hard questions about how a party can stand behind someone in an alternative reality?"

But Rubin also heaped praise on a political group that she argues has the power to deliver the message the Republican Party and mainstream media have not.

"Voters — at least Democrats, Democratic-leaning independents and “Never Trump” Republicans — have decided to engage in politics in a big way," Rubin wrote. "The sense of ennui and fatalism has lifted. The prospect of putting Trump in the rear view mirror has invigorated the electorate."

Rubin further argued voters have successfully shot down a prevalent misconception about the former president: that he has enormous power over them.

"In fact, he is weak, resorting to increasingly ludicrous lies," Rubin concluded. "That is the power of democracy. Those looking for someone to save us from the authoritarian threat have found that power in themselves."