Don’t Expect DeSantis to Deliver the GOP from Trumpian Abuses of Power
Plus: Roger Stone and the Key to Trump’s Evangelical Support.
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CHARLIE SYKES: Tales of the Weird
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JILL LAWRENCE: Don’t Expect DeSantis to Deliver the GOP from Trumpian Abuses of Power.
FOR ANYONE SEEKING AN ALTERNATIVE to another cronies-first, ethics-last Donald Trump presidency, bad news: Ron DeSantis is not the answer. The Florida governor is not only losing to Trump more than 2-to-1 in polls of the GOP primary field, he is seeming more like Trump each day in his disregard for rules, laws, norms, constitutions, and even the Bible-based Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Before the January 6th Capitol attack intended to keep Trump in office after his 2020 loss, the Trump moment that gutted me most was when, in July 2020, he commuted his friend Roger Stone’s impending prison sentence after Stone was convicted on seven felony counts, including lying and witness tampering in the Russia investigation to protect Trump. Politicians from Nancy Pelosi to Mitt Romney called it corruption on a shocking scale—and then a few months later Trump gave full pardons to Stone, his former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, his daughter’s father-in-law.
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MATTHEW D. TAYLOR: Roger Stone and the Key to Trump’s Evangelical Support.
For those who may have intermittently followed Stone’s oddball, cynical career at the heart of modern Republican politics, this declaration of piety might sound odd and new. But Stone’s rhetoric reflects an identity shift he has undertaken over several years: Though he was raised Catholic, Stone claims he experienced a born-again awakening following a conversation with the evangelist Franklin Graham at a January 2020 revival meeting. He’s been sharing this story for years now, including in an interview last March with Charisma magazine, an influential publication among Charismatics and Pentecostals. Stone now identifies as a “nondenominational Christian.”
ZANDY HARTIG: Farewell ‘Succession,’ HBO’s Grand Amorality Play.
THE AMERICAN-BORN HALF OF ME, invested in our collective fairy tale of optimism, independence, freedom, and love triumphing over cynicism, greed, and deception, was hoping the Roy siblings would band together, defeat the GoJo invaders, and bring peace, harmony, and justice to Waystar Royco land, cleaning house of its corruption and depravity while maintaining the Roy line of “succession.” But as the daughter of a vibrant, charming, and witty, yet deeply sardonic and narcissistic Brit myself, my other half acknowledges in retrospect that the bleak and brutal series finale of Succession couldn’t have ended in any other way.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Greetings from the mountains! Having spent most of the past two days driving, there won’t be much to report until tomorrow, when we know the results of the debt limit vote in the House.
The rule (which governs how the House conducts it votes) passed. 52 Dems voted for the rule and 29 Republicans (9 more than the usual circus) voted nay. Eventual passage may cost McCarthy his Speakership.
Rep. Ken Buck told Jim Sciutto he should “be concerned” and that there will be “discussions” next week. Remember: McCarthy agreed to change the rules to vacate the chair to get the job, knowing that pissing off his caucus could cost him it.
Yesterday, he told his members: “If you think I failed you, I’m sorry… But if you think I failed, I think you’re wrong.” One cheer? Question is: who would want the job? And if somebody did, could they be effective? If not, the House would be ruled by discharge petitions agreed to by Dems and moderate Republicans.
Lordy, there are tapes… About the documents Trump is reported to have brought to Mar-a-Lago. They involve attack plans on Iran. I’m sure the whataboutists will argue that’s what Joe Biden was keeping in his garage next to his Corvette.
Tucker’s first rodeo… On C-SPAN was with our colleague Will Saletan. Here’s what he remembers.
Pizza Pizza! Amelia Earhart used to live in this DesMoines house. Now it’s a Little Caesers.
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