Was It Really All Just Trump’s Fault? - The Bulwark https://www.thebulwark.com/was-it-really-all-just-trumps-fault/

"The problem with a prospective Trump-DeSantis detente is that the threats they pose to each other are asymmetrical.

Trump has indicated he’s willing to destroy the Florida governor. “I think if he runs he could hurt himself very badly,” Trump told the Wall Street Journal. “I will tell you things about him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”

But is DeSantis actually willing to destroy Trump, to see him ruined or even imprisoned? I have my doubts about that. Because such a course of action could cost him a lot of Republican votes.

And this is the asymmetry which drives the GOP’s cycle of dysfunction—and has since then-RNC chairman Reince Priebus desperately tried to convince Trump to “pledge” to support the Republican nominee in 2016:

Trump can destroy the party whenever he wants, yet the party can’t destroy him without also risking its own crack-up.

Nor can Republicans assume that Trump can be easily dismissed. His $100 million war chest can sustain armies of grifters and right-wing media, promising that any contest for GOP primacy would be long and painful.

While there’s a narrow opening for Ron DeSantis, if he chooses to take it, there’s also an opportunity for the broadly centrist pro-democracy movement to drive further wedges into a beleaguered MAGA coalition.

Will MAGA Republicans still go to the mattresses to keep re-litigating the 2020 election? Can they dump Trump while protecting him and his circle from accountability for the Capitol riot, or a federal indictment? Are conservative activists still trusting the plan, or Q, or Steve Bannon? These are questions that should be aggressively tested.

The path of least resistance for anyone trying to lead the MAGA movement will be to avoid these uncomfortable issues as much as possible. But as recent history has proven time and again, if you want to avoid a MAGA comeback, you need to hit them while they’re down.

Sweep the leg. And this time, finish the job.

#Politics