Trump has become so toxically deranged that even his most vocal boosters are starting to turn on him. What should we make of this, and more importantly, what should we do?
Anthony “11-days” Scaramucci is the latest of the high-profile Trumpers to turn against the inglorious bigot-in-chief. But he’s such a disingenuous piece of shit that many of us don’t know what to make of his professed heel-face turn. Here’s my take on things:
I reject the idea that Mooch and his ilk can get off easy by saying “I just realized Trump is bad because he finally crossed a line.” Trump crossed that line the day he rode down that golden elevator and called Mexicans rapists to announce his candidacy.
Any Trump booster who publicly rejects Trump must also answer the question of why they supported him for so long when he was obviously not worthy of support. I see two possibly acceptable options:
1. Admit they were conned and their judgement cannot be trusted on these matters.
2. Admit they knew Trump was awful, though they went along with the awfulness because it would benefit them, but now they have learned that is wrong and are rejecting bigotry and Republicanism.
Mooch is scary because he’s trying to wrap himself in the cloak of Resistance to reconstitute some modicum of credibility. It looks to me like he’s working up to backing a Republican primary challenger to Trump in order to save the Republican party and keep their minority rule intact, and it would be bonkers for us to give him any support toward that end.
When someone finally sees the light, don’t punch them in the face for not seeing it sooner. If a Trump follower wakes up and realizes how wrong they have been, we should welcome them to the Resistance and support their rehabilitation into a decent human being. But that doesn’t mean they immediately get to be leaders in the Resistance and represent us publicly. They can go stand in the back and cheer us on while they do the required work to rebuild trust and credibility. After we have crushed Trump and the Trumpublican cult, then we can let them have their chance to rebuild their political lives, if that’s something they are even capable of.
To sum up:
Welcome those who reject Trump to sanity and the Resistance, but be wary of them. Challenge them to recant their flawed morality that allowed them to support Trump in the first place, and don’t give them a free pass on having been shitheads just because they’ve said they’re going to stop now. Invite them to stand in the back and give their support to the movement, but don’t follow them anywhere until they have proven themselves.
