Last week, Nikki Haley became the latest Republican to come crawling back into the fold to endorse Donald Trump after his abuse and humiliation.
“I think she’s going to be on our team,” he told a local New York journalist in response, kindly refraining from his frequent nickname for her: “birdbrain.”
Exactly what kind of team member will she be this time around, after serving as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations in his first term? It probably depends on what she can do, and continue to do, for the multi-indicted Trump.
Ask Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose Trump nickname was “DeSanctimonious,” and who was brutally humiliated by Trump before dropping out of the presidential primary. Now DeSantis is getting pats on the head from Trump raising money to help Trump’s campaign.
“Ron, I love that you’re back,” Trump said at a recent fundraiser.
When South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott dropped out of the race, he immediately endorsed Trump and stood beside him in front of the press as Trump taunted him for having been appointed to the Senate by Haley when she was governor and yet giving his endorsement to Trump.
“You must really hate her,” Trump said.
“I just love you,” was Scott’s response.
Fellow also-ran Vivek Ramaswamy spent all of his brief campaign falling over himself to say how great Trump was, only to get smacked down at the first perceived slight against Trump days before the Iowa caucus. That hasn’t stopped him from trying to claw his way back to Trump’s good graces.
Then there’s Sen. Marco Rubio, aka “little Marco.” Repeatedly calling Trump a “con artist” during the 2016 campaign didn’t stop little Marco from quickly endorsing Trump in 2020. He now spends his days defending Trump’s election lies, hoping he will be picked to be Trump’s running mate.
And don’t forget nother 2016 candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose prophetic and breathtakingly honest characterization of Trump back in 2015, included calling him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who did not represent the Republican Party. Trump called Graham an “idiot” who was “not as bright as [former Governor of Texas] Rick Perry.” Ouch. He even gave out the South Carolina senator’s private phone number at a campaign event. Double ouch. Graham now spends his time offering moronic defenses for Trump’s alleged crimes and for refusing to accept election results.
Finally, who could forget Sen. Ted Cruz? Trump branded him “Lyin’ Ted” during the 2016 campaign. Trump accused Cruz’s father of being part of a secret conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy and insulted Cruz’s wife’s appearance. At the time, Cruz responded by calling Trump a “sniveling little coward.”
But then Cruz endorsed Trump and has been an obedient apologist ever since. He even went on CNN last week to stump for Trump, where he was asked about Michael Cohen’s testimony in the Trump trial that Trump orchestrated all of the attacks on Cruz and his family during the 2016 campaign. And he even defended that!
“Look, I understand, but I knew then it was lies,” Cruz said. “At the end of the day, I’m a big boy. And as I said, I could have made a choice.”
Yes, Cruz did make a choice—to not only forgive Trump for his vicious attacks but to work to restore him to power. They all did.
Like many Republicans, Donald Trump has tried to sidestep the issue of abortion and reproductive rights. But he stumbled during an interview with a CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh this week, promising an “interesting” new policy that would let states restrict contraception..
