The Smarter Anti-Trump Resistance: More Facts, Less Outrage

I’ll get to that, but first, an admission: I confess I’ve been mystified by this lack of alarm. I’ve said and written many times that I understand MAGA true believers better than I understand these swing voters. MAGA true believers at least recognize that Trump is unlike anyone else who has come down the pike in American politics in our lifetimes. This is one thing those of us who revile Trump have in common with those who adore him: We all understand that he’s unique.

It’s the people who don’t see him as unique who have baffled me. I just haven’t understood how that’s possible. My best guesses are as follows. One, they’re more cynical than the average voter and they think every politician is a corrupt liar, so Trump doesn’t particularly stand out to them in either regard. Two, they just don’t care about politics very much—we always need to remember that there are a few million voters out there who pay attention to politics the way I pay attention to gymnastics; that is, for about a month every four years. Three, they either sort of like him personally or at least they like the fact that he’s a “successful” businessman. Yes, narrow majorities have always thought of Trump this way, and one Biden official once told me that the view was just impossible to dislodge.

Whatever the reason, there we have it. Their hair is not on fire about RFK Jr. They may have thought Gaetz was an odd choice, but they’re totally on board with Pam Bondi, who is clearly qualified on paper. People like us read The Washington Post’s reportSunday that she’s going to move to prosecute Trump’s prosecutors, and we have convulsions. Don’t misunderstand me—we’re right to. Bondi was an election denier and is a complete loyalist, and while we can hope that her years in the law have instilled in her some modicum of respect for the need for evidence, her political history gives us ample reason to suspect that she’ll carry out Trump’s revenge agenda.