They have always been wrong.
They were wrong when he belittled the courage and sacrifice of the late Vietnam War hero, 2008 Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.
They were wrong when he picked a fight with the Gold Star parents of a U.S. soldier killed in combat.
They were wrong when the “Access Hollywood” tape surfaced that had Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women and asserting he would escape any consequences for his actions because he was “famous.”
They were wrong when he met with Russia’s murderous authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin and he slavishly threw America’s military and intelligence communities under the bus.
They were wrong when he attempted to extort Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into manufacturing evidence that would undermine the Democrat Trump most feared, Joe Biden—an act that resulted in Trump’s first impeachment.
They were wrong when, after losing the 2020 presidential election, he summoned a mob to Washington, D.C. and spurred it to attack the Capitol to try to illegally hold onto power, then waited to send help to those whose lives were threatened until it was clear his coup attempt had failed—all of which resulted in his second impeachment.
They were wrong when he took classified documents that compromised the safety of U.S. military personnel with him when he left the White House, stored them in a bathroom that visitors used and refused to return them when asked, repeatedly, by U.S. law enforcement officials—all of which resulted in criminal prosecution.
They were wrong when a civil court found that he was criminally liable for sexual assault and when a criminal court found him guilty of 34 felonies.
They were wrong because they misread Trump’s base.
These observers thought that a revelation of sufficient turpitude, selfishness or amorality would sour Trump’s most fervent followers on him by showing them what an unworthy character he is. They thought that once they saw that he wasn’t a good man—wasn’t a man who honored or respected their own values—they would abandon him.
But that read on the Trump-MAGA bond assumed that his supporters weren’t smart enough to see him as he is.
Many, perhaps even most, of them are astute enough to recognize that he isn’t a good or a moral man.
They chose him as their leader not because they wanted a saint but because they felt they needed a blunt instrument, a human wrecking ball who would lay waste to all the things in modern American politics and culture they fear and despise. They lined up behind him because he not only did not honor traditional American values and institutions but because he was a walking affront to those things—a human middle-finger salute to the deep state and the libs they loathe.
That’s why I’ve always been dubious that a scandal, even one as seedy and depraved as the Jeffrey Epstein saga, would bring Trump down. The president’s followers had swallowed so much indecency and depravity to sustain him, what was a little more?
And yet….
Somehow, this one feels different.
This partially can be attributed to traditional political calculations. He ran on pledges that he would bring inflation under control and restore prosperity, but, 10 months into his second presidency, prices are higher than ever and job creation is at a standstill.
But I also suspect that Trump’s desperate attempts to suppress the Epstein files have made clear to his supporters the full nature of the Faustian bargain they made.
We don’t know if Trump engaged in criminal activity with underage girls himself, but the information we’ve seen so far makes a compelling case that he knew about Epstein’s activities. Trump’s own words have acknowledged that he knew Epstein liked his female company “on the young side.”
And it didn’t deter him from being friends with the man.
When their relationship ruptured, the break apparently happened over a business deal, not because Trump’s friend was a sexual predator.
Not because Epstein raped children.
MAGA’s leader could be buddies with someone who raped children.
Raping children just wasn’t a dealbreaker for Donald Trump.
We’ll see if it is for MAGA.
