And he’s a moron
I think this excerpt from the new Martin and Burns book very simply captures the state of the GOP. They have no one to blame but themselves for this. They’ve brainwashed their voters:
Other Republican leaders in the House agreed with Mr. McCarthy that the president’s behavior deserved swift punishment. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the second-ranking House Republican, said on one call that it was time for the G.O.P. to contemplate a “post-Trump Republican House,” while Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the head of the party’s House campaign committee, suggested censuring Mr. Trump.
Yet none of the men followed through on their tough talk in those private conversations.
In the following days, Mr. McCarthy heard from some Republican lawmakers who advised against confronting Mr. Trump. In one group conversation, Representative Bill Johnson of Ohio cautioned that conservative voters back home “go ballistic” in response to criticism of Mr. Trump, demanding that Republicans instead train their denunciations on Democrats, such as Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden.
“I’m just telling you that that’s the kind of thing that we’re dealing with, with our base,” Mr. Johnson said.
I believe it.
They did this over many years of right wing media indoctrination. In recent years they vastly accelerated it, taking advantage of Trump’s toxic style to make it even worse, backing the Big Lie and hiding the truth from their audience. It’s propaganda, pure and simple.
And these officials are fine with it, really. McCarthy is probably going to become the next Speaker largely on the back of that Big Lie so it’s working out quite well for him and all the rest of the Republicans. They have no reason to rock the boat. Quite the opposite.