Trump biographer calls the Republican Party a 'hostage' to his candidacy
ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl described a scene of Donald Trump flying in the helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base to give a final speech as president and then jetting off to Mar-a-Lago before incoming President Joe Biden could be inaugurated. Republican Party chair Ronna Romney McDaniel called as a kindness to the outgoing president only to get an ear full about his determination to start his own party.
After some discussion, the GOP told Trump that he could abandon the GOP and start his own party, but he would no longer have any of his legal bills paid by the party. Trump ultimately held back, but now that he has taken over power and control of the party, it means that no candidate can make it through a Republican primary without the blessing of Donald Trump.
Speaking to Alex Witt on MSNBC, Trump biographer Tim O'Brien called it a "hostage" situation.
"It certainly won't matter to him, Alex but it will probably matter to the party," O'Brien said of Trump's announcement.
"I think those who want to distance themselves from Trump are trying to do it because they realize what an enormous drag he is on the national ticket," he continued. "Most of the MAGA-ish candidates at the midterms got voted down. A number of state houses, which have changed hands. I think there is a recognition that while Trump has a very tight grip on about 30 percent of Republican primary voters, when it comes to trying to win the national election, he turns off moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats. He can't really resemble a national coalition. So, the party is actually hostage to him because he scares enough of the party elders that they will not fully come at him. But they also have to make sure that they don't just absolve too much from his base. I think it is going to leave the Republican Party in a very fractured and schizophrenic state that they are going to have to try to work out before 2024."
Witt went on to ask O'Brien if Trump lost, if he would go away.
"Has Trump ever gone away, Alex?" O'Brien asked.
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