The GOP Will Continue to Pay For Selling Its Soul to Trump

Donald Trump is a cancer on American society and in the GOP base that cancer has metastasized and even once out of office, Trump will continue to poison the GOP at a time it ought to be trying to diversify its base - by 2022 many more older voter will have died off and millions of young anti-Trump citizens will have reached voting age. None of this, of course, means anything to Trump who (i)will be fixated on revenge against anyone deemed insufficiently loyal to him alone and (ii) seems to be most enamored with some of the most lunatic elements of the GOP, especially if they show submission to Trump.  Selling one's soul should carry a high price and many GOP elected officials will hopefully learn this lesson while much damage is done to the GOP in the process.  A piece in Politico looks at this likely prospect.  Here are excerpts: 

Trump’s attacks on Govs. Brian Kemp of Georgia and Mike DeWine Ohio — both of whom are up for reelection in 2022 — has led to broader concerns within the party that he will use his post-presidency to exact revenge on perceived enemies and insert himself into races in ways that are not helpful.

While the 2022 midterm elections are a ways off, the president’s broadsides are giving fuel to would-be primary challengers in both states — raising the prospect that Republicans will be forced into ugly and expensive nomination fights that could jeopardize their hold on the two governors’ mansions.

Trump’s intrusions into Georgia and Ohio provide an early test case for how he might use his stranglehold on the conservative base to control the party long after he leaves the White House. Never mind that Trump will no longer be in power: Cross him, and you will pay.

“The power [Trump] the president holds over elected Republicans is due to his strength among GOP primary voters in every state and district right now. He may be able to make or break candidates in GOP primaries for years to come,” added DuHaime, who formerly served as a senior adviser to the Republican Governors Association.

Trump lashed out at DeWine after the governor’s appearance on CNN on Nov. 15, when the Ohio Republican called Joe Biden the president-elect and said that for “the country’s sake it’s important for a normal transition to start.”

The president has repeatedly gone after Kemp, imploring him to intervene to stop what Trump has baselessly claimed are irregularities in the state’s vote count. Trump complained on Twitter that “the whole process is very unfair and close to meaningless,” adding: "Where is @BrianKempGA?"

Trump allies have joined the pile-on. Fox News host Sean Hannity said Kemp is “cowering in fear,” and Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz accused the governor of failing to ensure the integrity of the election.

Trump’s influence in Republican primaries could extend beyond Georgia and Ohio. He has already vowed to campaign against Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a sometime Trump critic who said in June that she was “struggling” with the question of whether she supported Trump.

He came under fire over his decision to appoint Kelly Loeffler to Georgia’s Senate seat over a Trump favorite, Rep. Doug Collins. And after endorsing Kemp in the 2018 gubernatorial contest, Trump has openly clashed with Kemp over his handling of the coronavirus. During an April news conference, the president said he was “not happy with Brian Kemp, I will tell you that.”

Trump allies have already begun to encourage Collins to challenge Kemp in 2022. When Hannity raised the idea during an interview on his radio show, Collins, who is leading Trump's recount effort in Georgia, chuckled in response.

Trump, meanwhile, has long regarded DeWine as insufficiently loyal. During his 2018 race, the Ohio governor frequently skipped the president’s rallies in the state. It did not go unnoticed at the White House.

While DeWine has high approval ratings, he’s drawn opposition from Trump supporters over coronavirus restrictions he’s implemented. The 73-year-old governor was booed during a September appearance at a Trump rally.

Trump’s deep base of conservative support virtually ensures that he’ll remain a force once he leaves office. And the fact that many of his backers are convinced the election was stolen from him could intensify their loyalty.

But party strategists worry that could spell trouble in upcoming elections.

“In the short term, President Trump’s attacks on these governors serves his interest in casting doubt on the election results. But if it invites serious primary challengers, it could hurt Republicans in the long run and drain valuable resources that would be used for a general election,” said Jon Thompson, a former top RGA official.

It isn’t the only way Trump could handcuff the GOP. The president’s flirtation with a 2024 comeback bid threatens to freeze out other would-be GOP candidates who’ve begun laying the groundwork for a national campaign.

All of which has heightened GOP fears that Trump’s post-White House political activities will make it impossible for the party to turn the page.

“I’d be thinking in terms of how do you help reelect Republican governors. Donald Trump doesn’t think that way. His worldview starts and stops with his own personal interests at the exact moment he’s typing out a tweet,” said Tucker Martin, who was a top aide to former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.