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Comment by mahboi | Hacker News Reader

Shouldn't they at least care about the presidential election 2 years after that?

At this point I think they're planning on letting Democrats sweep the midterms, having things get even worse over the next 2 years, which is inevitable, and blaming the entire thing on Democratic obstruction. Their voters are dumb enough to believe it.

There have been Republican elected representatives who have confronted Trump. With very few exceptions, they have gone down to defeat in subsequent Republican primary elections.

The Republican electorate will not stand for Trump being constrained or criticized by Republicans. That's why there are almost no remaining Republican elected officials who are willing to confront the Trump administration aside from a handful of lame ducks like Tillis and Massie.

Functionally, the Republican congress is unable to hold the Trump administration to account, because Republican voters have ensured that it cannot. The only way Trump will ever be constrained is via Democrats.

Trump's influence has been fading and history shows he'll have practically none as a lame duck. The spell is breaking. As they say, at first gradually then all at once.

Who knows what the future holds? Right now he can get away with anything: paying for partisan ads with taxpayer money, shaking down industry for bribes to pay for various monuments... There is no amount of corruption or incompetence that this Republican congress would not enable.

The majority of the Republican electorate demands an authoritarian leader unconstrained by the rule of law. Trump won't be the last.

When did lame duck change definition? It was supposed to be just the month or two after the election. Not most of the term of someone that's facing a term limit.

It's not really a changed definition. I'm just assuming he's going to fail to win re-election in 2028.

> An elected officeholder or group continuing in office during the period between failure to win an election and the inauguration of a successor.

Many senators aren't going to be up for election until 2030. Their allegiance to Trump due to his influence only lasts as long as he can threaten their re-election 2 years after he's an ex-president (and let's face it, he's quite old...). As I've said, we've already seen his influence fade. Just a bit, but this kind of thing goes fast once it does.

Lame duck is supposed to be after the successor is chosen. Trump isn't eligible to run again, but it makes a difference who the successor is and what party.

Why? He can’t run again or will die of natural causes, and the cult support goes with him when he goes.

https://x.com/LindseyGrahamSC/status/727604522156228608

> If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it. —- Lindsey Graham, May 3, 2016

I meant the Republican Party should care. I get why Trump doesn't.

most of them have been replaced, or are threatened to be replaced if they don't tow the party line.

It's not a traditional party in the American sense any more, there's no real policy making behind the scenes, it's basically the Trump family enriching itself and a rabid base enabling it. The institutional part that supposed to be the brain of the whole operation has left the building

To your point about replacement, it is evident to me Trump himself has orchestrated this thing over the past 11 years, as none of his associates have been part of the inner circle for that entire span of time.

I can't really think of a time when a major American party let its members go against the line.

The people in his admin certainly want to. It seems like Vance and Rubio are already subtley trying to position themselves for eventually running.

I don't share your optimism. I mean, yeah, he's doing to die soon, but his followers will just be suckered by the next con man who follows his playbook.

There have been a number of people who've tried to play some version of the Trump game. For whatever reason, he's the only one who ever got it to work. My theory is that it is because he has been a media presence, for better and worse, since the 1980s. Real estate, WWF, casinos, movies, reality TV, so much constant exposure. He's like the embodiment of 'no such thing as bad press'.

>He can’t run again

I am afraid we can't really be sure about this.

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