In 2022, Donald Trump raised close to $200 million. He spent most of that money on himself and his legal fees even though he raised that money claiming it would go to help Republican candidates. Instead, Trump spent more money trying to defeat incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp than he spent on literally any other race — including Liz Cheney.
This brilliant summary by Mr. Erickson should reach the eyes and ears of every conservative media outlet and commentator, and they should be shamed for keeping it from us. (The liberal media will hold onto it so Trump wins the GOP primary.) Would it be wrong to characterize Trump as congenitally selfish and pathologically self-aggrandizing? (And why we lost THREE Georgia Senate runoffs, and with it -- TWICE -- the chamber.) Let the commentators decide, but we're not getting any assessment of the allegations. Trump's flaws are censored out of what we conservatives watch. This is un-journalistic garbage from networks (Foxnews, Newsmax, OANN) that boast of having integrity. We rightly condemn the censorship of the Left in print, broadcast and social media, but we endure it too from Foxnews, etc. It's depressing, like finding out your hero dad is an embezzler. Kudlow, Kilmeade, Levin, Campos-Duffy, Hegseth -- get some journalistic guts when it comes to Trump. Please.
This whole saga is a series of acts of ridiculousness rich in comparisons to the Princess Bride. But just who is playing who at any moment in time is truly a matter of perspective.
Trump (...and his sycophants) truly thinks he's Wesley and the mainstream media is Vizzini. "Inconceivable" they say night after night after night after another trap is avoided. The sane people who held their nose and voted for Trump, are Inigo responding, "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
Then media and experts line themselves up with their targets for a succession of Battles of Wits. Repeatedly playing Vizzini drinking the poison.
Now enter the pit of despair. We the people are suffering under dems/experts as Count Rugen's torture device.
The worm has turned now, and Trump has now become Humperdinck. He's been in the torture chamber working on DeSantis, and has just turned the device to max and thinks he's wiped him out. "Mostly Dead".
I guess Miracle Max has delivered his pill and the recovering "Wesley" is having his first fledgline successes. He's been mostly dead all day.
What comes next? Who slays Count Rugen? Who is Inigo? "Offer me money." "Offer me power." Who takes the money and runs? "Offer me anything I ask for." "Anything you want," is the deep state response. Who is the one who says, "I want my country back you son of a bitch" and ends this.
...and who are you Erick in this farce? Miracle Max Jonesing for a MLT? Boomer Harpy's runny around nagging you? Miracle Max says "Why'did you say that name? You promised me you wouldn't say that name."
"What Humperdinck (Trump)?" "Humperdink, Humperdinck, ...." AAHHHHH!!!! Inigo says if you heal him he'll stop Humperdink's wedding."
"What? I make him better Humperdinck suffers?" Response, "Humiliations galore..." from those who remain w/ common sense and a functioning brain
I viewed his appearance on CNN as an attempt to reach out directly to Democrats who don't want Biden again. The person with the most votes in the primary is the candidate. He knows he is having a hard time with actual Republicans.
Trump is not running for Presidency right now, he is running for the nomination on the presumption he can and will win against Biden. He views being the candidate and winning the general election as the same thing.
With no Democrat primary there is no penalty for Democrats, where possible, to vote for Trump in the primary.
Trump has never been my 1st choice as the Republican nominee, but I believe Erick is continuing to be naive about what is happening. The Durham report which was just dropped will add fuel to Trump's narrative that he was robbed. The Left and the media (but I repeat myself) will continue to push Trump in subtle and not so subtle ways to make him the nominee because that's the only Republican candidate the Biden can beat.
In my mind there are only two wildcards. One - Biden doesn't make it to the election because of his age and senility. That's where Michelle Obama comes out of the woodworks to be the Democrat nominee. The other wildcard is that things get so bad in the country, the media moguls figure out that they can't survive the way things are going and throw their support to someone like DeSantis.
But I'm not putting too much hope in that second wildcard.
"Suddenly, Trump is opposed to a six-week abortion ban. He does not even appear to support a fifteen-week ban nationally, which polls with majority national support.
Trump is also opposed to any reform of entitlements, from social security to Medicare to Medicaid, which puts him to the left of Joe Biden.
Likewise, just yesterday, Trump again attacked Republican governors for not having been more aggressive in fighting COVID."
Stick with this type of reporting and get the attention of Trump supporters to reject him. Or, keep attacking Trump for attacking the Republican establishment that has been complicit in the breathtaking abuses of political and legal power to try and eliminate him and help improve Trump's support.
Elections should be about ideas and policies and not personality unless we want our elections to be like a popularity contest of 12 year old school girls.
I believe your assessments to be correct. I'm very disappointed. I'm done with Trump and have been since the last abominable election. The RNC squandered resources and acted like a "deer in headlights' when it came to abortion issues. Trump in not a unifying team leader within his own party or our nation. His hubris and self-centeredness are a danger to himself, others and the nation.
Erik despises Trump. It's glaringly obvious in every single one of his articles and podcasts over the past 4 years. He cant let it alone. Trump has his faults and he's an egomaniac but his policies and work ethic are unmatched in modern day politics.
I was a big Trump supporter MAGA hat & all, voted both times. He is now out for vindication & vengeance and though I agree he was unfairly & illegally targetted which did roll over into re-election election interference on a grand scale by Dems, he has to stop attacking fellow Republicans before he takes us all down. His successes can be used as a guide going forward but some of what made him successful was the element of surprise to his tactics - that is gone now. The world has also seen that the left will kill this country rather than let him do anything. Yes, any Conservative will get a ration of s*#@ but Trump derangement is real. He really started showing his inability to tolerate anyone not agreeing blindly with him last election especially here in GA by attacking & wasting needed money going after GOV Kemp. We then lost 2 senate seats because of him and his die-hard disciples almost us getting stuck with Abrams as well. That he is still tanking the GOP and helping the Dems with these attack ad's is unforgiveble. Now to find out even worse than I thought, I knew he was always a liberal but loved his country unlike most of them and he seemed to get it right for a while but he has lost it now. My MAGA hat is tarnished for good as he is fighting actively against what is best for country caring only for his ego instead of being THE elder statesman and helping the rest move forward.
Know when to fold them.
We need to fix so many things now that we need a candidate that can go 2 terms! He can't.
We need a candidate that can put US 1st he is proving he can't or won't
We need a candidate that can unite so we can win, he can't.
We need lots of money & the conservative base can't have it wasted on fellow conservatives and win.
We need the die-hard Trump fans to look seriously at him now, not as he was, hopefully they can.
My dream is to have a president that leads with dignity. A president that dies to self and leads the people and country to benefit this great nation. Again, my dream!
What will it take for the entrenched MAGA loyalists to see reality? Trump is an amoral opportunist seeking power for his own self-aggrandizement. Yeah, his policies were good while he was in office, but it wasn’t love for country that motivated him; it was love of adulation.
I can picture him building a massive golden statue of himself in the desert for his worshippers.
It seems sooo WRONG for someone with Trump’s wealth to take donations from a retired person with limited funds to spend on his own legal mess. I’m done. We have good choices in other candidates. Let’s move on to someone that can serve 8 years vs someone with only a 4 year presidency.
All of that! And yet Trump is far and away ahead of any other candidate or putative candidate for president of the United States in 2024. This just simply cannot be all about Trump. It makes no sense. Or does it? Could this say more about the failures of the Republican political class than it does Trump? Hey Erick, we are beginning to think you don’t support Trump; and yet, he had tremendous support - if not endorsements - from Rush and Hannity. You know why? Because in addition to their respect and admiration for the Republican political class, Rush and Hannity also had/have expectations of them. Do you Erick? Will you follow the path of your radio elders and learn to recognize the failures of Republicanism? Will you at least start down the path well worn by Rush and Hannity in a few months after your precious Republican political class backs down and capitulates to Biden’s demands regarding raising the debt ceiling? How bad does it have to get before your deeply held political beliefs outweigh your deep admiration for these people?
Erik despises Trump. It's glaringly obvious in every single one of his articles and podcasts over the past 4 years. He cant let it alone. Trump has his faults and he's an egomaniac but his policies and work ethic are unmatched in modern day politics.
You do realize that after the Durham report Trump coffers will be full. There are 48 congressmen and 9 senators supporting Trump including my own, why? ( And I have written him about that.) I want our country back in the worst way and it is not going to happen with 4 years of Trump.
Mr Erickson, what you just laid out for us needs to be shouted from every roof top in America.
Hi Eric. How can this country survive having self-serving politicians. We seem to have lost the moral fiber this country was founded on where good was good and bad was bad and people were held accountable for their actions. Help me see some hope for the country in spite of the politicians. Thanks and have a great day.
I don’t get it. Many of the comments here say Move On from Trump. But the polls continue to show Trump leading the race for the nomination and not by a small amount. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Data is contradictory to what they want to believe. I fear a large number are confused but don’t want to face the facts. But come primary Election Day they’ll vote for him again. Why?
It depends on what polls you are looking at and how question poised. They are only a small percentage of people. Biden vs Trump sure not a good idea but I would Trump even knowing he could be as bad even worse for us just praying he would revert to better. I know a lot of people who won't vote for him in the primary no matter what. Hopefully for the main election we will have a better choice. I don't trust polls much anymore and feel they can be skewed to best fit the folks in power who I believe do want Trump to keep dividing us & wasting money. Whatever stability he had before is gone after years of persecution. I feel for him but it has brought out all his worse tendencies and we need a stable person for Pres. I think even the Dems are realizing Biden may not work for them either especially if we do put in a younger more stable choice.
I disagree with the arguments i have read that Erick should got off the Trump bashing. Perhaps why some of these democrats won in 2022 is that the funds Trump raised didn't go for exposing the democrats weaknesses but were spent by Trump for the reasons Erick outlined. That is new news to me to this level of clarity and I find it alarming. I generally think the entire fund raising strategy of the Republicans is flawed. I get multiple requests every day for money from one or another Republican. They use shame and blame toward me that I don't respond even as they solicit me using someone else's name instead of mine on their requests (there is clearly a data issue in their solicitation). Also, they continue to ask for survey responses with questions that don't tell them anything to "entice" participation when all they want is to build their prospect lists and ask for money. It is redundant, insulting and disingenuous. Adding Erick's comments as to the misuse of funds raised, particularly from Trump, exposes a critical flaw and taints the public trust in Republican integrity and brand. The democrats are so dishonest and full of lies, the Republican brand should stand for something more ethical, honest and moral. Ask yourself, does Trump move us in a positive or negative direction on what we conservatives stand for? I think we must turn against him and I view Erick's comments as sharing facts and adding transparency and not "bashing" for bashing sake.
The main reason many of us are saying to stop bashing Trump is because every word against him causes the "only Trump" people to dig in their heels further. It will have the exact opposite effect you desire. Much better to simply stop talking about Trump and highlight the positive attributes of other candidates. For me, specifically DeSantis but do it for any others too. If you want the die hard Trump supporters to get on board with someone else, you have to make other candidates look attractive without bashing Trump. Also, I might add, if republicans have a dozen candidates in the primary, it makes it more likely Trump will be the winner in the primary. So republicans of the political class need to get smarter too.
This brilliant summary by Mr. Erickson should reach the eyes and ears of every conservative media outlet and commentator, and they should be shamed for keeping it from us. (The liberal media will hold onto it so Trump wins the GOP primary.) Would it be wrong to characterize Trump as congenitally selfish and pathologically self-aggrandizing? (And why we lost THREE Georgia Senate runoffs, and with it -- TWICE -- the chamber.) Let the commentators decide, but we're not getting any assessment of the allegations. Trump's flaws are censored out of what we conservatives watch. This is un-journalistic garbage from networks (Foxnews, Newsmax, OANN) that boast of having integrity. We rightly condemn the censorship of the Left in print, broadcast and social media, but we endure it too from Foxnews, etc. It's depressing, like finding out your hero dad is an embezzler. Kudlow, Kilmeade, Levin, Campos-Duffy, Hegseth -- get some journalistic guts when it comes to Trump. Please.
This whole saga is a series of acts of ridiculousness rich in comparisons to the Princess Bride. But just who is playing who at any moment in time is truly a matter of perspective.
Trump (...and his sycophants) truly thinks he's Wesley and the mainstream media is Vizzini. "Inconceivable" they say night after night after night after another trap is avoided. The sane people who held their nose and voted for Trump, are Inigo responding, "I don't think that word means what you think it means."
Then media and experts line themselves up with their targets for a succession of Battles of Wits. Repeatedly playing Vizzini drinking the poison.
Now enter the pit of despair. We the people are suffering under dems/experts as Count Rugen's torture device.
The worm has turned now, and Trump has now become Humperdinck. He's been in the torture chamber working on DeSantis, and has just turned the device to max and thinks he's wiped him out. "Mostly Dead".
I guess Miracle Max has delivered his pill and the recovering "Wesley" is having his first fledgline successes. He's been mostly dead all day.
What comes next? Who slays Count Rugen? Who is Inigo? "Offer me money." "Offer me power." Who takes the money and runs? "Offer me anything I ask for." "Anything you want," is the deep state response. Who is the one who says, "I want my country back you son of a bitch" and ends this.
...and who are you Erick in this farce? Miracle Max Jonesing for a MLT? Boomer Harpy's runny around nagging you? Miracle Max says "Why'did you say that name? You promised me you wouldn't say that name."
"What Humperdinck (Trump)?" "Humperdink, Humperdinck, ...." AAHHHHH!!!! Inigo says if you heal him he'll stop Humperdink's wedding."
"What? I make him better Humperdinck suffers?" Response, "Humiliations galore..." from those who remain w/ common sense and a functioning brain
I viewed his appearance on CNN as an attempt to reach out directly to Democrats who don't want Biden again. The person with the most votes in the primary is the candidate. He knows he is having a hard time with actual Republicans.
Trump is not running for Presidency right now, he is running for the nomination on the presumption he can and will win against Biden. He views being the candidate and winning the general election as the same thing.
With no Democrat primary there is no penalty for Democrats, where possible, to vote for Trump in the primary.
Trump has never been my 1st choice as the Republican nominee, but I believe Erick is continuing to be naive about what is happening. The Durham report which was just dropped will add fuel to Trump's narrative that he was robbed. The Left and the media (but I repeat myself) will continue to push Trump in subtle and not so subtle ways to make him the nominee because that's the only Republican candidate the Biden can beat.
In my mind there are only two wildcards. One - Biden doesn't make it to the election because of his age and senility. That's where Michelle Obama comes out of the woodworks to be the Democrat nominee. The other wildcard is that things get so bad in the country, the media moguls figure out that they can't survive the way things are going and throw their support to someone like DeSantis.
But I'm not putting too much hope in that second wildcard.
"Suddenly, Trump is opposed to a six-week abortion ban. He does not even appear to support a fifteen-week ban nationally, which polls with majority national support.
Trump is also opposed to any reform of entitlements, from social security to Medicare to Medicaid, which puts him to the left of Joe Biden.
Likewise, just yesterday, Trump again attacked Republican governors for not having been more aggressive in fighting COVID."
Stick with this type of reporting and get the attention of Trump supporters to reject him. Or, keep attacking Trump for attacking the Republican establishment that has been complicit in the breathtaking abuses of political and legal power to try and eliminate him and help improve Trump's support.
Elections should be about ideas and policies and not personality unless we want our elections to be like a popularity contest of 12 year old school girls.
I believe your assessments to be correct. I'm very disappointed. I'm done with Trump and have been since the last abominable election. The RNC squandered resources and acted like a "deer in headlights' when it came to abortion issues. Trump in not a unifying team leader within his own party or our nation. His hubris and self-centeredness are a danger to himself, others and the nation.
Erik despises Trump. It's glaringly obvious in every single one of his articles and podcasts over the past 4 years. He cant let it alone. Trump has his faults and he's an egomaniac but his policies and work ethic are unmatched in modern day politics.
not anymore
I was a big Trump supporter MAGA hat & all, voted both times. He is now out for vindication & vengeance and though I agree he was unfairly & illegally targetted which did roll over into re-election election interference on a grand scale by Dems, he has to stop attacking fellow Republicans before he takes us all down. His successes can be used as a guide going forward but some of what made him successful was the element of surprise to his tactics - that is gone now. The world has also seen that the left will kill this country rather than let him do anything. Yes, any Conservative will get a ration of s*#@ but Trump derangement is real. He really started showing his inability to tolerate anyone not agreeing blindly with him last election especially here in GA by attacking & wasting needed money going after GOV Kemp. We then lost 2 senate seats because of him and his die-hard disciples almost us getting stuck with Abrams as well. That he is still tanking the GOP and helping the Dems with these attack ad's is unforgiveble. Now to find out even worse than I thought, I knew he was always a liberal but loved his country unlike most of them and he seemed to get it right for a while but he has lost it now. My MAGA hat is tarnished for good as he is fighting actively against what is best for country caring only for his ego instead of being THE elder statesman and helping the rest move forward.
Know when to fold them.
We need to fix so many things now that we need a candidate that can go 2 terms! He can't.
We need a candidate that can put US 1st he is proving he can't or won't
We need a candidate that can unite so we can win, he can't.
We need lots of money & the conservative base can't have it wasted on fellow conservatives and win.
We need the die-hard Trump fans to look seriously at him now, not as he was, hopefully they can.
My dream is to have a president that leads with dignity. A president that dies to self and leads the people and country to benefit this great nation. Again, my dream!
What will it take for the entrenched MAGA loyalists to see reality? Trump is an amoral opportunist seeking power for his own self-aggrandizement. Yeah, his policies were good while he was in office, but it wasn’t love for country that motivated him; it was love of adulation.
I can picture him building a massive golden statue of himself in the desert for his worshippers.
It seems sooo WRONG for someone with Trump’s wealth to take donations from a retired person with limited funds to spend on his own legal mess. I’m done. We have good choices in other candidates. Let’s move on to someone that can serve 8 years vs someone with only a 4 year presidency.
All of that! And yet Trump is far and away ahead of any other candidate or putative candidate for president of the United States in 2024. This just simply cannot be all about Trump. It makes no sense. Or does it? Could this say more about the failures of the Republican political class than it does Trump? Hey Erick, we are beginning to think you don’t support Trump; and yet, he had tremendous support - if not endorsements - from Rush and Hannity. You know why? Because in addition to their respect and admiration for the Republican political class, Rush and Hannity also had/have expectations of them. Do you Erick? Will you follow the path of your radio elders and learn to recognize the failures of Republicanism? Will you at least start down the path well worn by Rush and Hannity in a few months after your precious Republican political class backs down and capitulates to Biden’s demands regarding raising the debt ceiling? How bad does it have to get before your deeply held political beliefs outweigh your deep admiration for these people?
Erik despises Trump. It's glaringly obvious in every single one of his articles and podcasts over the past 4 years. He cant let it alone. Trump has his faults and he's an egomaniac but his policies and work ethic are unmatched in modern day politics.
You do realize that after the Durham report Trump coffers will be full. There are 48 congressmen and 9 senators supporting Trump including my own, why? ( And I have written him about that.) I want our country back in the worst way and it is not going to happen with 4 years of Trump.
Mr Erickson, what you just laid out for us needs to be shouted from every roof top in America.
Hi Eric. How can this country survive having self-serving politicians. We seem to have lost the moral fiber this country was founded on where good was good and bad was bad and people were held accountable for their actions. Help me see some hope for the country in spite of the politicians. Thanks and have a great day.
I don’t get it. Many of the comments here say Move On from Trump. But the polls continue to show Trump leading the race for the nomination and not by a small amount. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Data is contradictory to what they want to believe. I fear a large number are confused but don’t want to face the facts. But come primary Election Day they’ll vote for him again. Why?
It depends on what polls you are looking at and how question poised. They are only a small percentage of people. Biden vs Trump sure not a good idea but I would Trump even knowing he could be as bad even worse for us just praying he would revert to better. I know a lot of people who won't vote for him in the primary no matter what. Hopefully for the main election we will have a better choice. I don't trust polls much anymore and feel they can be skewed to best fit the folks in power who I believe do want Trump to keep dividing us & wasting money. Whatever stability he had before is gone after years of persecution. I feel for him but it has brought out all his worse tendencies and we need a stable person for Pres. I think even the Dems are realizing Biden may not work for them either especially if we do put in a younger more stable choice.
I disagree with the arguments i have read that Erick should got off the Trump bashing. Perhaps why some of these democrats won in 2022 is that the funds Trump raised didn't go for exposing the democrats weaknesses but were spent by Trump for the reasons Erick outlined. That is new news to me to this level of clarity and I find it alarming. I generally think the entire fund raising strategy of the Republicans is flawed. I get multiple requests every day for money from one or another Republican. They use shame and blame toward me that I don't respond even as they solicit me using someone else's name instead of mine on their requests (there is clearly a data issue in their solicitation). Also, they continue to ask for survey responses with questions that don't tell them anything to "entice" participation when all they want is to build their prospect lists and ask for money. It is redundant, insulting and disingenuous. Adding Erick's comments as to the misuse of funds raised, particularly from Trump, exposes a critical flaw and taints the public trust in Republican integrity and brand. The democrats are so dishonest and full of lies, the Republican brand should stand for something more ethical, honest and moral. Ask yourself, does Trump move us in a positive or negative direction on what we conservatives stand for? I think we must turn against him and I view Erick's comments as sharing facts and adding transparency and not "bashing" for bashing sake.
The main reason many of us are saying to stop bashing Trump is because every word against him causes the "only Trump" people to dig in their heels further. It will have the exact opposite effect you desire. Much better to simply stop talking about Trump and highlight the positive attributes of other candidates. For me, specifically DeSantis but do it for any others too. If you want the die hard Trump supporters to get on board with someone else, you have to make other candidates look attractive without bashing Trump. Also, I might add, if republicans have a dozen candidates in the primary, it makes it more likely Trump will be the winner in the primary. So republicans of the political class need to get smarter too.
You put into words what I was trying to come up with. Thank you!