GOPers Think Trump’s Too Damaged to Run in ’24? Riiiight.
Republican conventional wisdom right now: Nah, Trump can’t possibly win. Let’s see... where have I heard that before?
The Asahi Shimbun/Getty
The greatest trick The Donald ever pulled was convincing the world that he would never do the thing they most feared. In 2015, that thing was to run for president. In 2016, it was to actually win while running for president—even after the Access Hollywood tape surfaced. Now, the latest thing Republicans are sure Trump would never, ever do is to run for president again after being impeached for a second time—and win.
While I’ve been advising Republicans to kick him when he’s down, Donald Trump’s political fortunes continue to benefit from the naive assumption that he’s become a harmless little fuzzball. “He’s not going to run for federal office again,” Nikki Haley predicted in a much ballyhooed Politico profile. “I don’t think he’s going to be in the picture,” she continued. “I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.”
She’s not alone in thinking this. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said virtually the same thing to the media during the Senate impeachment trial. “After the American public sees the full story laid out here [in the impeachment trial],” she said, “I don’t see how Donald Trump could be re-elected to the presidency again.” Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me a gazillion times?
