This might be the understatement of all time, but Donald Trump has upended so much about America's political landscape. One of the biggest factors that has emerged from the Trump years is Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Virtually everybody on the left suffers from TDS, but plenty of people who once called themselves Republicans or conservatives have allowed TDS to metastasize into their brains.
The latest example of this phenomenon is Geoff Duncan, Georgia's former lieutenant governor. Duncan spent a term as lieutenant governor before declining to run for re-election because he thought that "a foundering national GOP [was] still too focused on the 2020 election."
Unlike Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.), who has remained a beloved and effective conservative leader in the Peach State while keeping his brand distinct from Trump's, Duncan has decided to focus his career on badmouthing Trump at every turn without proving himself a viable alternative. The latest proof that Duncan is allowing Trump to live rent-free in his head is an op-ed he wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution entitled "Why I’m voting for Biden and other Republicans should, too."
Duncan must be thinking he's so brave and noble, writing an editorial in a left-wing newspaper. He begins with his dismay that other Republicans are supporting Trump because of how awful the alternative is. But shame on those who won't pull the lever for Biden, Duncan says, because their "mentality is dead wrong."
"Yes, elections are a binary choice," Duncan points out the painfully obvious. "Yes, serious questions linger about President Biden’s ability to serve until the age of 86. His progressive policies aren’t to conservatives’ liking."
"But the GOP will never rebuild until we move on from the Trump era, leaving conservative (but not angry) Republicans like me no choice but to pull the lever for Biden," he continues. He's not angry? If he weren't angry, he wouldn't have to virtue-signal that he's voting for a man who stands against everything conservatives are fighting for.
"At the same time, we should work to elect GOP congressional majorities to block his second-term legislative agenda and provide a check and balance," Duncan dreams. Bless his heart. He thinks we can solve all our problems by voting for the man who has weaponized the entire executive branch against conservatives. A GOP majority in both houses won't matter if Biden is using executive fiat to accomplish his agenda.
On and on Duncan goes. He mentioned Time Magazine's breathless recent OMGTRUMPCOULDWIN issue and parrots the "Trump told people to inject bleach" fallacy. He refers to polls that spell doom for a left-wing president who can't complete sentences as "bleak," and he even refers to Biden as "a decent person I disagree with on policy." Can anybody tell me how, in his right mind, Duncan can call himself a conservative while he spouts this nonsense?
By the way, check out the tweet Duncan has pinned on this X/Twitter page:
I’ve recently penned a few thoughts on how republicans can get out of this mess Trump has created…..without re-electing Joe Biden. https://t.co/EphhIxRpBT pic.twitter.com/CET0QuafbU
— Geoff Duncan (@GeoffDuncanGA) August 7, 2023
I guess not reelecting Biden is fine when you have books to sell, but when you want to virtue-signal, give him your vote.
NBC News refers to Duncan's op-ed as a "high-profile defection from [the] GOP," which is laughable. Nobody in Georgia thinks of Duncan anymore.
However, NBC identifies something interesting: Duncan was supposedly a top choice for the quixotic No Labels presidential bid before the movement folded earlier this spring.
"The deep-pocketed Washington group announced in March that it was abandoning its 2024 presidential ambitions after it was unable to find a credible candidate, NBC News reports. "Duncan appears to be closest it came to securing a candidate for the top of the ticket, though it kept much of its work private."
"Duncan has said in interviews that he seriously considered the No Labels ticket but that he was not confident that any third-party candidate would have a real path to victory in November and that he worried he would merely be a spoiler," the report continues.
Sorry, Geoff, but the only thing you're spoiling is your credibility as a self-described conservative. You don't have to be head over heels for Trump to establish your conservative bona fides, but abandoning all principles to vote for Biden will hurt you more than it helps you.
This election is about more than one man. It's about more than whether you like the men running for president. I had my doubts about Trump in 2016, and I've had some reservations about him this year. But you better believe I would vote for him and all his flaws over a man who wants to kill babies, outlaw gas-powered cars, and control the information that the American people receive.
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