Never-Trump “conservatives” are a real hoot. Their opposition to Trump in 2016 out of fear he wasn’t a genuine conservative has morphed into outright anti-Republicanism. These days, you can’t tell the difference between the rhetoric of a Never-Trump “conservative” and a far-left Democrat.
For example, last month, Joe Biden made several very public and dangerous gaffes, including his apparent call for regime change in Russia. Yet, rather than concede Biden’s problematic ad-lib, which world leaders widely criticized, Never-Trump conservative Bill Kristol hailed the remark and compared it to Reagan’s “tear down this wall” speech.
It seems that anti-Trumpism has made Never-Trumpers true pawns of the radical left, making them utterly incapable of producing anything resembling legitimate political analysis. The latest example comes from CNN’s S.E. Cupp, during a recent episode of Unfiltered on CNN. Cupp, to her credit, seemed surprised that Biden told Barack Obama he plans to run again in 2024, “given how low his poll numbers are.”
But, what concerns Cupp is that Donald Trump has been hinting at a 2024 run. She suggests that Trump’s talk about running again and fundraising could be “ego and greed,” but, nevertheless, there are plenty of Republicans who won’t run in 2024 if Trump does. However, there is one Republican Cupp believes should run: Congressman Adam Kinzinger.
Kinzinger even said this week he’d “love to primary” Trump in 2024: “Even if he crushed me, like in a primary, to be able to stand up and call out the garbage is just a necessary thing, regardless of who it is … I think it’d be fun.”
Ah, yes, running a presidential campaign for “fun” sure seems like a great way to spend your time, money, and effort. Kinzinger certainly will have plenty of time, as his anti-Trump crusade prompted him to retire from Congress. Still, he’s clearly suggested that if he launched a presidential campaign, it wouldn’t even be a serious one. For some reason, Cupp finds this adorable and admits that “chances are he would get crushed.”
You think? Kinzinger is one of the ten House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump over bogus claims he incited the January 6th Capitol Riot and one of the two Republicans on the J6 Committee.
Despite Cupp admitting that Kinzinger has no prayer, she still fangirl’s over him and wants him to run his fool’s errand.
“As a Never-Trump conservative, I appreciate his efforts to call out the hypocrisy and dangerous authoritarianism of the new right-wing,” she said. “But let’s face it, there aren’t enough of me to get Kinzinger elected, at least not in the next election if Trump is running.”
Cupp insists, however, that Kinzinger’s futile presidential campaign wouldn’t be in vain—and here’s where things get really silly.
“I pose the following questions: Could Kinzinger be a spoiler in a Republican primary? I think the answer is yes. He’d certainly pose no threat if you ran against Trump alone. But let’s add Florida Governor Ron DeSantis into the mix. Now, in most national polls, Trump dominates DeSantis in hypothetical matchups, but DeSantis is gaining in popularity and other polls show voters may want an alternative to Trump.”
Cupp continued, “So in a world in which DeSantis runs against Trump and maybe not that far behind, a candidate like Kinzinger could pull Trump’s numbers down just enough to give DeSantis an edge. That’s a win for Kinzinger.”
I hate to break it to S.E., but in a scenario where both Trump and DeSantis are running, Kinzinger won’t be taking support away from Trump.
Cupp then asked if Kinzinger could set an alternative agenda for moderate Republicans and independents in 2024. She says, “Absolutely.”
Because that worked out so well for John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012?
It certainly did not. Yet, Cupp thinks that in a Biden/Trump rematch, Kinzinger could appeal to the middle because of “his unique perspective” as a “young center-right pro-democracy, anti-autocracy moderate voice of reason.”
Again, I point to 2008 and 2012.
But lastly, Cupp asks if Kinzinger could “lay the groundwork for a future post-Trump party.”
“Without a doubt,” says Cupp. And here’s where she really went off the rails.
“Who knows when and if the right will ever ditch this pro-Putin, insane anti-democratic, book-banning, culture-warring Trump fever dream?” she asked.
Pro-Putin? Are we still on that nonsense? I guess Cupp is pretending that Biden didn’t enrich Russia by kneecapping domestic oil production and buying energy from Putin. Or that Biden did nothing to stop Putin from invading Ukraine. Anti-democratic? Book-banning? Culture-warring? Wrong party, S.E. Wrong party.
Cupp is living in a fantasy if she thinks Kinzinger, by running for president in 2024, could remake the GOP in his own image. Republicans don’t want a pawn of the Democrats as their president. They want a Republican who will fight for conservative values.
