If it is true that the January 6th Committee is significantly eroding Trump’s support enough to undermine his chances of winning the GOP nomination this opens the door for DeSantis and others to run for, and possibly become president.
See:
Republican insiders say the cumulative effective of the hearings has been to erode support for the former president, at least on the margins.
The article concludes as follows:
“It’s not Trump hatred,” Thomas (a GOP strategist) added. “It’s Trump fatigue. I think [the Jan. 6 committee hearings] reminds people to the degree that they’re tuning in that, eh, is this that important of an issue? No. But damn … And then Trump goes on his rants and it’s like, ‘We’re tired of it.’”
There are those in in the Democratic Party establishment and Democratic pundits who see Trump as a more beatable candidate than someone with less baggage and would prefer to see him as the nominee despite his support among his MAGA base. See, for example, “Why Democrats are begging Trump to start 2024 right now — Democrats are already plotting how to take advantage of another White House run from the 45th president” also in Politico.
Trump is becoming more and more extreme and unhinged. The extremism is evidenced by the series of fund raising emails published in Chauncey DeVega’s Salon article ‘Trump 2024 is almost here: King of the long con looks to play his final trick — The master showman of politics wants another turn on center stage. Mock him if you want — but don't bet against him” where Trump promotes a new term, Ultra MAGA, for his supporters. This is one of his emails”
Did you hear what Joe Biden called us?
He said we were an EXTREME POLITICAL ORGANIZATION. He said we were ULTRA MAGA.
Well… If loving your Country and wanting to put AMERICA FIRST makes you ULTRA MAGA, then yes. WE ARE ULTRA MAGA.
We just released our BRAND NEW TRUMP ULTRA MAGA shirts, and we want to give you PRIORITY ACCESS so you can get YOURS before ANYONE ELSE.
These shirts are the PERFECT way to show your unwavering support for President Trump AND prove to the Left that our movement is STRONGER than ever before.
It’s not enough to be merely MAGA, the master of marketing and grift has come up with another way to bilk his supporters out of money by throwing away their MAGA junk and replace it with with crap like this.
In this email Trump seems to be preparing his hard-core supporters to engage in yet another violent insurrection:
At this very moment, Joe Biden and the socialist Left are wreaking havoc on our nation at record speed. Inflation is through the roof, gas prices are at their highest in history, our border has been demolished, cold-blooded criminals are taking over our Democrat-run cities, our heroes and our heritage are under assault, and the world has descended into chaos and mayhem — and Biden isn't even halfway through his term.:
Note that the words assault, chaos, and mayhem in the last sentence are exactly what Trump wants his supporters to engage in.
As for Trump becoming more unhinged, here’s what his clinical psychologist niece Mary Trump had to say (published in the same Salon article):
Donald Trump's mental pathologies are likely becoming worse as the threat of prosecution and other negative consequences for his crimes loom over him. His niece Mary Trump, a clinical psychologist, has warned that these pressures have created an especially dangerous moment. Donald Trump is likely engaging in witness tampering and other acts of intimidation to protect himself from the Jan. 6 House committee and the law.
In a recent interview with journalist Molly Jong-Fast on "The New Abnormal" podcast, Mary Trump said, that for her uncle "to reach out directly to the witness . . . suggests to me two things: he's terrified and desperate and he's completely overestimating his power to manipulate people. I think that that ship has sailed."
Between the cumulative effects of the J6 hearings and Trump becoming more extreme and more unhinged I no longer think he’d be a shoo-in to win the GOP nomination should he decide to run. I think it would be wise for Democratic Party strategists to prepare to campaign against a Trumpian candidate who isn’t Trump.
