Next week, Americans will have the opportunity to hear from leading Republican primary candidates in the first GOP presidential debate.
Thank goodness.
It’s the perfect chance for conservatives to consider seriously someone who isn’t former President Donald Trump, who was just hit with his fourth criminal indictment Monday in a case of alleged election interference in Georgia. Much like the other indictments that have come down this year, these latest charges are serious, and even if you are inclined to see them as politically motivated, it’s hard to miss Trump’s culpability in each instance.
He brought this on himself.
To make myself clear, I am a conservative. I believe in free markets, limited government and individual liberty. And I think most of the other GOP candidates in the running for president would do a fine job of upholding those principles and our Constitution.
But after the 2020 election and the debacle of its aftermath, Trump can no longer be trusted to do so.
Trump must go:If Trump cares about America and its greatness, he must leave politics. Permanently.
The former president wants his followers to buy that all these probes and charges at both the state and federal levels are an attempt by President Joe Biden and Democrats to interfere with the 2024 election and stay in power.
Ironic, isn’t it?
Wake up, Republicans
Recall in early 2016, when then-candidate Trump said this?
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.”
Trump hasn’t “shot” anyone, but it appears the sentiment is correct. Despite all the legal drama, Trump remains by far the leading Republican candidate – and as the indictments keep coming, his poll numbers go up. And he takes attention from other Republican candidates, who likely would be more electable in the general election.
He is obviously playing his supporters for fools. And he will keep doing it. Trump in his arrogance has always acted as if the rules – and laws – don’t apply to him.
Republicans need to wake up and realize they don’t have to blindly back him anymore. Much of the donations to Trump’s campaign are going directly to pay his legal bills – that helps Trump personally, but not the voters who are sending their hard-earned money his way.
All eyes should be on the GOP debate in Milwaukee
As GOP candidates take the stage on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, they should stop walking delicately around Trump and call him out for these indictments.
If they do what most of them have done in the past, and simply agree with Trump that it is all a Democratic witch hunt, then they are cementing the former president as front-runner.
In typical Trump fashion, he has not yet committed to debating his fellow contenders. And he has not agreed to sign a pledge he’d support the eventual nominee if it’s not himself. That’s a Republican National Committee prerequisite to participate.
Trump’s right that there’s not much point in him debating. He’s the clear front-runner and well known to the country. And he has joked that he plans to use the debate as an opportunity that “might” help him choose a running mate.
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Whether he’s there or not, the other candidates – who include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott – must not hold back their criticism of the four-time indicted former president.
The bottom line is that if Trump had accepted reality and acknowledged his defeat in 2020, he would be in a much better position to once again take on the flailing Biden, whose family is facing major legal troubles of its own.
Trump’s pride and inability to accept that he wasn’t a winner have fundamentally changed the dynamics of this next election.
Republicans are doing the country a disservice if they continue to play into the former president’s delusions.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques
