'Trump's Oompa Loompas': Strategist reveals why GOP leaders are in ex-president's pocket

Political strategists Chai Komanduri and David Kochel exposed Republican leaders who do former President Donald Trump's bidding, often while hiding behind a veneer of independence on Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's "The Beat."

"Is there some concern in Trumpland with the legal headaches, problems, even if he is on a good path, as people say, that [Nikki] Haley does pose a problem?" asked anchor Ari Melber.

"If you think about it, there's a whole media thing that the Republican establishment is very anti-Trump, they can't stand him, it's all the MAGA looneys and grassroots that actually love him," said Komanduri. "The actual opposite is true. Trump got half the vote in Iowa, half the vote in New Hampshire. He has 100 percent of the Republican senators. Basically 99 percent of the House members. The entire Republican establishment are behind him. You see this with the RNC. You see this with with Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson. They're all Trump's Oompa Loompas."

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"Do you have a Willy Wonka feeling about this, David?" said Melber.

"Look, I mean, the point kind of remains," said Kochel. "We've busted all the norms. Yes, the establishment is with Trump because they know what happens to them when they cross him. If he sends someone after you in a primary, more often than not he will get you. So that's why we're here. You know, they kind of see the writing on the wall where this nomination is headed right now unless we have some sort of dramatic change, which we could have."

"We can't predict what's going to happen next week or the week after that, but this is — this is the party kind of saying, you know, we don't want a problem with Trump in the future," said the report. "If he's going to be the nominee, I'm not going to earn myself a primary in the next election. I'm not going to get a bad tweet. They don't want to catch grief from the former president."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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