The Fourth Indictment: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend

It's going to get worse before it gets better. Also: It might not get better.

Heads up: I’ll be doing a live react to [gestures broadly] all of this at 12:30 p.m. in the East on The Bulwark’s YouTube channel with Tim, Will, and Mona.

Click below to set a reminder now and then come hang with us over your lunch, mid-morning break, or first cup of coffee.

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Former president Donald Trump speaks at the Georgia Republican Party's state convention on Saturday, June 10, 2023 in Columbus, GA. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

1. Fourth Time’s a Charm

We have now uncovered all of the known-unknowns.

Beginning on January 7, 2021, the most pressing question in American politics has been how the Republican party—both its elites and its voters—would react to the wreckage of the Trump years. Would the party return to a healthy liberalism or more deeply entrench itself in illiberalism?

There were a series of exogenous events that we thought would influence the answer, but didn’t know for sure: