It was almost 15 months ago that The New York Post published a full-page cover photo of Ron DeSantis with the headline “DeFUTURE.” His 19-point victory in the Florida governor’s race was one of the few bright spots of the 2022 elections for a weary Republican elite, which was desperately looking to move on from Donald Trump after his handpicked candidates cost the party key Senate seats.

A year later, as Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign stalled, at least a handful of G.O.P. megadonors found new hope in Nikki Haley, with the Koch network announcing millions of dollars in support of her presidential campaign.

It would be fair to say that the project has fallen flat: Mr. DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign on Jan. 21, and Ms. Haley’s hopes have now dwindled to a thin thread after her loss in New Hampshire.

By Donald Trump and his allies, this primary will be portrayed as a victory over a Republican establishment with which he had been at odds for years. But although Mr. Trump has routinely positioned himself as a political outsider, it is clear — now more than ever — that he has become the Republican establishment, and the party’s fate increasingly seems inextricably tied to his.

The former president now controls the Republican Party by virtually every conceivable measure. He has a commanding lead in fund-raising and polling. His policies are a beacon to which most conservative lawmakers orient themselves in affairs both foreign and domestic. His endorsement remains the single most coveted asset that any Republican could hope to brandish in a primary race, and he has already received support from an overwhelming majority of prominent elected Republicans.

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  • snownyte
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    1610 months ago

    I really do wonder what exactly will happen when this piece of shit dies. Because he will one day and what then? When the MAGA-Cultists have lost their “Jesus”, what then? They already hate Republicans who aren’t Trump. They already hate anyone who opposes them.

    Maybe they’ll finally do the rational thing and hate themselves before getting the hell off this country.

    • @samus12345
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      1010 months ago

      They’ll either find another cult leader they can agree on or fragment.

    • @isthingoneventhis
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      210 months ago

      Some shitter iteration of scum will rise to the ranks to head the new fascist movement. The wheel of hate and racism has been set in motion a very long time ago in America, before trump, we’re just now starting to see the ramifications of it because it’s come to fruition. The problem is, the original folks who set it in motion no longer have control over what they’ve started, or have since died, and we’re left with this churning pile of shit to eek out a life in.