On Monday, writing for The Washington Post, conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin broke down the key reason outgoing President Donald Trump is unlikely to follow through with his suggestions of running for president again in 2024: His attempts to "burn down the country" are more an act of revenge than an attempt to win goodwill for a political future.
Trump, noted Rubin, has decided to veto the military budget; to threaten to blow up COVID-19 talks; to attack the election system; to pardon murderous war criminals; to "risk sending the economy into a tailspin"; and to "express hatred and contempt for the United States."
"This is the conduct of someone who wants to burn down his party — and the country — if he cannot be president," wrote Rubin. "While his cruelty still astounds, his temper tantrum also reveals the foolishness of Republicans who placated and defended him for four years. They enabled him throughout his presidency, prevented his removal in the impeachment trial, tried to subvert our election so he could remain in power and spent four years insisting that supporting him was the right thing to do for the sake of the "rule of law" and an economic boom (both of which he undermined). He is rendering Republicans who tied themselves in knots even more uncomfortable when they are pressed to answer, 'Was it really worth it?'"
Trump's real play, Rubin argued, seems to be to "go to war with the Republican Party itself" for financial gain — something that will benefit him, but fracture the conservative movement and certainly not give him a path to victory in 2024.
"Many of us in the Never Trumper camp have argued that the Republican Party is not worth preserving after years of its leaders' moral abdication, refusal to uphold their oaths and toleration of racism," wrote Rubin. "What we did not bank on was that after corrupting the party, Trump would be the perfect means of destroying the GOP. In doing so, he might finally make a contribution to U.S. democracy."
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