Donald Trump has had it bad before. After all, his businesses have declared bankruptcy six times, and he lost the popular vote both times he ran for president. But he’s really not doing so hot right now. He’s in legal and financial jeopardy. His Twitter clone may wind up being yet another of his many failed ventures. His blog died a quick death. And now comes one of his fiercest Republican critic to kick him while he’s down.
In a new op-ed for The Washington Post, George Will — the longtime conservative commentator who formally left the GOP in 2016 over Trump’s nomination — all but declared the 45th president down for good.
“Floundering in his attempts to wield political power while lacking a political office,” Will wrote, “Donald Trump looks increasingly like a stray orange hair to be flicked off the nation’s sleeve.”
Will argues that over a year out of office, Trump has one power move left: “to influence his party’s selection of candidates for state and federal offices.” He then examines how his preferred candidates are doing. The answer: Not well. David Perdue, Ted Budd, Janice McGeachin — all have bombed or are bombing at the polls with their respective races.
He also accused Trump of being a broken record, spinning a record that’s well out of date:
Trump is an open book who has been reading himself to the nation for 40 years. In that time, he has changed just one important word in his torrent of talk: He has replaced “Japan” with “China” in assigning blame for our nation’s supposed anemia. He is an entertainer whose repertoire is stale.
Will doesn’t only come for Trump. He also singles out Fox News host Tucker Carlson and novelist-turned-Trumpist political aspirant J.D. Vance, for scorn. All three have been on record either flat-out praising Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine (then backpedaling, sort of) or, in Vance’s case, saying he doesn’t “really care” about what’s happening abroad.
Will’s conclusion? “For Trump, the suppurating wound on American life, and for those who share his curdled venom, war is a hellacious distraction from their self-absorption,” he writes. “Fortunately, their ability to be major distractions is waning.”
Then again, how many times have people, even people as smart as George Will, declared Trumpism over? Regardless, you can read Will’s full laceration over at WaPo.
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/george-will-trump-tucker-clarson-jd-vance-torches/
