The National Review's Jim Geraghty is starting to wonder why so many rivals to former President Donald Trump are even bothering to run for president.
In his latest "Morning Jolt," Geraghty finds it strange that so many Republican challengers to Trump seem to be walking on eggshells when polls show they're trailing the former one-term president by 30 points.
Trump, meanwhile, has maintained a rock-solid lead among Republican primary voters either despite or because of getting indicted in two separate jurisdictions on dozens of felony counts.
All of this makes Geraghty question what the Trump challengers are all thinking.
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"If you’re a Republican presidential candidate currently polling at five percent or less... what are you being cautious for?" he asks. "Where has your current approach gotten you so far? Longshot candidates, let me be the one to communicate the hard truth that apparently your campaign staff is afraid to tell you: You’re not going to get very far on your charm and good looks."
In just the last year, continues Geraghty, Trump has dined with a Holocaust denier and has demanded to be reinstated in office even if it means "terminating" parts of the United States Constitution that prevent such a thing from happening.
"In ordinary politics, these sorts of statements... backfire," he notes. "As far as we can tell, none of this has hindered Trump’s effort to win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — in Iowa, New Hampshire, or nationally."
