A former Republican strategist believes a defeated MAGA candidate's latest online move signals the political fever gripping America has finally broken.
Tim Miller pointed to Vivek Ramaswamy on Wednesday's episode of "The Bulwark Daily," noting that the failed Ohio gubernatorial candidate's X account now carries a label reading "account not actively managed."
Miller said Ramaswamy ran "one of the two most despicable campaigns of the year and really since Trump 2016" and lost "so badly that he is self-deporting from public life."
Miller was speaking with Nick Wright, host of "What's Right with Nick Wright" and co-host of "First Things First" on Fox Sports 1. Wright had suggested in his own post-election commentary that the fever might have broken after last week's elections, and Miller said Ramaswamy's retreat backed that up.
"I think that there's some potential hope there that you're right that at some level the fever is broken," Miller said. "Not that everybody's going to be kind to each other, not that there's not going to be racism, but that there once again are some boundaries in the public discourse that are bumpers on the bowling alley for what is acceptable."
When Wright asked about the other campaign on his list, Miller named Mike Rogers, who he said "basically ran a campaign like my opponent is a terrorist."
The pair also took aim at Republicans who rallied behind Ramaswamy's race. Miller noted that JD Vance "fully endorsed" an ad from the Ramaswamy campaign and was "upset" with Republicans who distanced themselves from it.
Wright said he told his son about the ad, and his son couldn't believe it.
"It just seemed totally unbelievable to a normie out there," Wright said.
Wright argued that the GOP's cruelty is something voters can finally push back on.
"I am really intensely bothered by how mean some of these people are," Wright said. "There is a level of decorum that I think matters a lot and signals to America what we're about. And we have strayed so far from that and I think that we can reenter now that I do think we have the public sentiment on our side."
Wright added that most Republicans "don't have the courage of their convictions" to disavow the extreme statements of their colleagues.
"I just want some of these folks to be held to account," Wright said.