Does Donald Trump really have a choke hold on the Republican Party?
Certainly the way some frightened senior GOP members are running scared makes it appear that he has.
The question is are they quaking in their boots for fear of what Trump might do to them or are they terrified of the dangerously militant base that unquestioningly swallows everything he says
By becoming US President in 2016, Trump silenced those within its ranks protesting that that the pathological liar and tax dodger posed an existential threat to Abraham Lincoln’s party.
The election map shows much has been proven true.
Donald Trump has lost the presidency, plain and simple.
There is no escaping this reality but his sociopathic condition will not allow him to acknowledge defeat.
So he is looking for a path out of the White House that does not look like losing.
He does not care a jot what damage this is doing to American democracy.
Some analysts say Trump has attained king-making powers that enable him to boost or destroy the careers and aspirations of Republican politicians.
There is an increasing likelihood that his path to defeat in 2020 is being made more palatable by his contesting the 2024 election.
What use is a king-maker who is determined to retain is crown?
My bet is the Republicans prepared to sacrifice their credibility are actually fearful of upsetting not Trump himself but the dangerous Trump base.
That might account for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo telling a news briefing about a re-elected Donald Trump.
It does not explain why the press corp did not simply burst out laughing and leave the room when he said it.
Being obliged to paint a balanced picture or to actually sympathize with a frightened Pompeo does not require one to be played for a fool.