The Donald Trump-era GOP is the latest example of what an authoritarian leadership looks like. Trump has used ritual humiliation to transform the GOP into his personal tool. And there is a long list of Republicans he has mocked publicly.
The more submissive Republican elites are on Trump’s side, supporting him through impeachments, indictments, and even a coup attempt. When Sen. Tim Scott appeared at Trump’s victory rally in New Hampshire, he got a taste of that humiliation.
Trump scorned him, saying: “Did you ever think [Haley] actually supported you, Tim?” He was referring to Nikki Haley’s pledge to support Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee. “And you’re the senator of her state. … You must really hate her.”
And how did Scott respond? “I just love you,” he told Trump. “That’s why he’s a great politician,” were Trump’s words at the time.
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Since then, Scott has been repeatedly shooting himself in the foot spontaneously, likely to Trump’s delight. “I’m far better encouraging and being excited and motivated for President Trump than I was for myself,” Scott said after voting in the South Carolina primary.
Then, at the post-primary rally, he assured the audience that he would keep his speech short because “the longer I speak, the less you hear of him.” Scott is doing extremely well groveling before Trump. However, Lindsey Graham is giving him a run for his money.
Graham is still paying for his sin of criticizing Trump in 2016. “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed……and we will deserve it,” Graham tweet read in May 2016. He also called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot.”
All Graham cares about now is defending Trump, to the point of reversing his view expressed after January 6 that presidential conduct is subject to American law. Since that opinion clashes with Trump’s claim that he should have presidential immunity for everything and anything he has done, it could not stand.
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Things are even worse for Graham as he seems to always be attracting the ire of Trump’s followers. MAGA members regularly boo him at Trump rallies. At a July rally with Trump, the crowd called Graham a “traitor,” prompting Trump to give him a halfhearted compliment (“he’s there when you need him”) while promising he would get Graham “straightened up.”
Graham reportedly turned on Trump when he had to testify to a grand jury about a request he made on his behalf after the 2020 election. The request was to Georgia’s secretary of state to discard mail-in ballots from several Georgia counties.
Graham dutifully fought the subpoena for months. But after he told the truth, he thanked Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for the opportunity to testify, saying: “That was so cathartic. I feel so much better.”
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His words suggest that his conscience was eating at him. This is why it is likely he will continue to be a target of Trump’s scorn. Scott’s case is only a bit better. Many continue to wait for the day both will finally stand up to Trump and remain standing.
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