President Trump says USAID is rife with fraud. But Andrew Natsios, a Republican former administrator of USAID, calls that “utter nonsense.” Natsios says USAID is “the most accountable aid agency in the world.” https://t.co/4MwUokAAdX pic.twitter.com/X7hLBiUlYg
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 17, 2025 >Elon Musk says he would spend millions in primaries on anybody who opposes President Trump. pic.twitter.com/TdroLJXXa4
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 17, 2025
Natsios describes himself as a very conservative Republican and strict constructionist who believes that we may be headed to a constitutional crisis if Trump decides to ignore the orders of the Supreme Court. What happens then, he’s asked? “I don’t know,” he replies.
None of us do. Trump and his henchmen, especially Musk, are now in something of a fugue state, seemingly beyond reason. They’re dragging massive numbers of people along with them including the Republicans in Washington to appear to believe that they really do have the power to change reality. They don’t, of course, but whether they can dupe enough people into believing they can is an open question.
I had thought there were many people like this man, conservative Republicans with whom I disagreed on most policies but who shared a belief in the basic constitutional order. There are many fewer of them than I knew. If the US Congress is any guide, the vast majority of the GOP has adopted the personality of internet trolls whose main political goal is to punish their enemies. And that’s about half the country.