# So how many Republicans are secretly praying that Trump will be disqualified? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 7, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745 "2024-01-07T20:22:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/41 "2024-01-08T08:37:11Z")
No, it already happened. But it was fleeting. They spun around like a figure skater to excuse him again. For a brief time after 1/6, it seemed like the majority of the Republicans were done with him. Then it’s like someone took that mind wipe device from _Men in Black_ and zapped them all so that they forgot about it and went right back to being Trumplicans again. It’s possible that something could turn them and actually make it stick, like a criminal conviction, but honestly I’m not holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/42 "2024-01-08T13:38:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > Are you posting from the far future? > > The far future? > > What benefits do you imagine the Republicans have gotten out of Trump since January 20, 2021? Where’s the evidence that Republicans have turned on Trump? He’s polling 50 points ahead of his nearest competitor among Republican primary voters. [Here’s a list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements) of Republican officeholders who have already endorsed him for the nomination. Go ahead and compare that to [Ron Desantis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ron_DeSantis_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements) or [Nikki Haley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nikki_Haley_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements). What’s your evidence of any serious efforts by Republicans to deny Trump the nomination – besides empty speculation about backroom cabals? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/43 "2024-01-08T14:56:26Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > As I have said before, if they put him back in power they are surrendering theirs by letting the whole world know that there is no such thing as a law that applies to Donald Trump. So they either have the choice of stopping him now or never being able to stop him later. Except I doubt the justices are thinking in political terms. Rulings are not supposed to be goal-oriented. My guess is that they’ll rule on what they truly believe the letter of the law and the constitution says. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/44 "2024-01-08T15:05:29Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > My guess is that they’ll rule on what they truly believe the letter of the law and the constitution says. Thomas? Kavanaugh? Ruling based on what the Constitution says, by any interpretation? ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/45 "2024-01-08T15:21:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Did I miss any worry-free steps? Don’t forget about “Don’t worry, Trump will ‘pivot’ once he’s elected” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/46 "2024-01-08T15:48:05Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > Where’s the evidence that Republicans have turned on Trump? He’s polling 50 points ahead of his nearest competitor among Republican primary voters. [Here’s a list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements) of Republican officeholders who have already endorsed him for the nomination. Go ahead and compare that to [Ron Desantis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ron_DeSantis_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements) or [Nikki Haley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nikki_Haley_2024_presidential_campaign_primary_endorsements). > > What’s your evidence of any serious efforts by Republicans to deny Trump the nomination – besides empty speculation about backroom cabals? Do you understand the concept of working in secret? Which is what I said they were doing. They don’t invite me to these discussions because I’m not a Republican. Here’s some possible scenarios: 1. Despite the fact that Trump himself lost the 2020 general election and that Trump-endorsed candidates lost in general elections in 2018, 2020, and 2022 and that Trump has been charged with a bunch of new crimes since 2020, his victory in the 2024 general election is a sure thing. So the Republicans will back Trump because he’s going to win. 2. Trump will lose. But the Republicans will support him out of a sense of loyalty to the man. Because the Republicans believe that personal loyalty is more important than winning elections. 3. Trump will lose. But the Republicans will support him as their candidate if he’s chosen in the primaries and then accept the outcome of the general election if he then loses to Biden. Because the Republicans believe in the sanctity of elections and would never do anything to interfere with how people vote. 4. The Republicans have no choice. Trump is a political mastermind who is in control of events and will outmaneuver the entire party when it tries to oppose him. Now you tell me which of those scenarios sounds plausible to you and give us the evidence you have to support it. Here’s my scenario: 1. The Republicans have been quietly working on interfering in election results for the last few decades in order to ensure Republicans get elected. They will do so again this year. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/47 "2024-01-08T19:05:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Thomas? Kavanaugh? Ruling based on what the Constitution says, by any interpretation? I’d be fine with a 7-2 ruling that draws the correct conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/48 "2024-01-08T19:08:19Z")
Not much to add that hasn’t been said. But I’m still curious if by “Republicans” he meant national party hacks, congressmen, state party folks, or voters. Or for that matter the great media / scamming industry built up around the trump traveling ~~circus~~ shitshow? I’m going to suggest that the split of people wishing trump would be disqualified varies greatly in those groups. And the numbers would be different again if we changed “disqualified” to “died”. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/49 "2024-01-08T20:49:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Did I miss any worry-free steps? 🙄 “He’ll get more presidential once he’s in office” “Don’t worry, the adults in the room will prevent him from doing anything stupid” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/50 "2024-01-08T20:51:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The far future? > > What benefits do you imagine the Republicans have gotten out of Trump since January 20, 2021? They won their primaries. That is all. All they need. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/51 "2024-01-08T21:16:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Do you understand the concept of working in secret? Which is what I said they were doing. They don’t invite me to these discussions because I’m not a Republican. I’m not sure how to have a productive conversation about a secret conspiracy to deny Trump the nomination that exists solely in your head, so I’m gonna bow out. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/52 "2024-01-08T21:35:18Z")
I guess we could set mileposts (a) after Super Tuesday, (b) after SCOTUS rules on disqualification (c) after the Convention (d) after the election to see if there is any sign of a _concerted_ plan to stop Trump, as opposed to just desperate flailing and prayers for him to fall without taking everyone else down with him. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/53 "2024-01-08T21:47:34Z")
Are there factions within the R party traditionalists who would love to have trump out of the way? You bet; they won’t get back to business as usual until he’s gone. Are they making wishful plans for after the _deus ex machina_ delivers them into Nirvana? Sure. IMO there’s damn little they can do to hasten the day. And they know it. So damn little is being _done_. Corporate America is similar. In any contingent situation you have to balance doing offensively what will deliver your optimal outcome versus doing defensively what will prevent your pessimal outcome. As somebody said recently, and maybe upthread here, a full-throated denunciation of trump is already dangerous. His odds of winning & being a vindictive totalitarian aimed at your face are already uncomfortably high. Gonna see a lot of triangulation going forwards. Americans are not used to living under police states and many prominent Americans are understandably cautious to not be on the first list of examples to be made. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/54 "2024-01-08T21:56:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > For a brief time after 1/6, it seemed like the majority of the Republicans were done with him. Then it’s like someone took that mind wipe device from _Men in Black_ and zapped them all so that they forgot about it and went right back to being Trumplicans again. That _Men in Black_ device was called polling data which should that Trump had lost minimal support from his base who were finding all sorts of convoluted rationalizations as to why Jan 6th either had nothing to do with him, or was a good thing, or both, and so continued their unwavering loyalty. So long as the base supports him they will (publically at least) gladly follow him off any cliff he marches towards. Although as the OP states, they might be looking for an opportunity to push him off first and do an immediate about face as he goes splat at the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/55 "2024-01-08T22:22:17Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > The far future? > > > > What benefits do you imagine the Republicans have gotten out of Trump since January 20, 2021? > > They won their primaries. That is all. All they need. Republicans winning Republican primaries is not exactly a surprise. And it’s hardly all they need to do. Winning a primary doesn’t count for much if the candidate then loses the general election. Which is the point I’ve been making. I don’t think Trump can win the general election against Biden. I don’t think the leadership of the Republican party thinks he can either. I think that they will try to influence the outcomes of the primary elections to prevent Trump from being their party’s nominee. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/56 "2024-01-08T23:27:42Z")
I profoundly wish you are right. I think, and feel, that you are wrong. We shall see. IMO they more lack levers of power than the desire to pull them if they had them. IIRC you are in outstate NY. I suspect your location insulates you from seeing how far MAGAtry has taken over the state-level R parties elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/57 "2024-01-08T23:44:04Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I’m not sure how to have a productive conversation about a secret conspiracy to deny Trump the nomination that exists solely in your head, so I’m gonna bow out. I bet you also didn’t know there was a [secret plan to fight inflation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3sj-TSbWjs). ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2024, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/58 "2024-01-08T23:51:33Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Don’t forget about “Don’t worry, Trump will ‘pivot’ once he’s elected” “There will be adults in the room with Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/59 "2024-01-09T00:07:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Republicans winning Republican primaries is not exactly a surprise. > > And it’s hardly all they need to do. Winning a primary doesn’t count for much if the candidate then loses the general election. Which is the point I’ve been making. Sucking up to Trump is the _mandatory first step_ in what they need to do. And for many of them, this is the conundrum as you have pointed out. They can’t get past first base without sucking up to Trump. And then sucking up to Trump is the thing that will get them hammered in the general. I do think that many Republican politicians are secretly praying that the Supreme Court will do their job for them. Because they simply can’t do it themselves. But I think that the Republican party (such as it is) is fairly powerless to influence the presidential primary. I think they are still paralyzed and watching the whole shit-show with horror (while silently praying for a miracle). ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2024, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745/60 "2024-01-09T01:59:05Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Sucking up to Trump is the _mandatory first step_ in what they need to do. And for many of them, this is the conundrum as you have pointed out. They can’t get past first base without sucking up to Trump. And then sucking up to Trump is the thing that will get them hammered in the general. And even so, for a large proportion of the Republicans (and for that matter of Democrats) getting past the primary is where it’s at. Gerrymandering and demographics have made huge swaths of the country “safe seats”. So in 80+% of Red America, pissing off the MAGAs just means that, like Liz Cheney, **you** will be run out of town on a rail and some MAGAt **will** take the seat. Sure, Cheney does not **need** the seat to live well and have people ask her opinion of things, so she can walk away. For hundreds of the other Members of Congress, state legislators, governors, local officials, **this** is as good as it will ever get and it’s going to hurt bad if “the Base” becomes convinced you betrayed God’s Annointed One Trump. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-republicans-are-secretly-praying-that-trump-will-be-disqualified/995745.md?page=4)