Trump's pathetic band of GOP hypocrites

GOP "leaders" crawled out from the cesspool that is their party last night at the RNC Convention in Milwaukee to lavish praise upon GOP Presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The evening featured fellow Republicans (who have said some much-less-than-complimentary things in the past about Trump's character and abilities) now fawning over their fearless leader. Perhaps they're angling for Cabinet posts in a Trump administration. Perhaps they justifiably fear retribution from Trump and his worshipping minions for any dissent. Or maybe--and this seems the most reasonable explanation--these GOP politicians really are that spineless and unprincipled.

So, sit back and enjoy a trip down memory lane as we compare what Trump's GOP hypocrites said about him--then and now. By the way, Trump's clever nicknames (um, sarcasm intended) for his now-staunch allies are referenced after their quote from last night's RNC Convention.

Trump also insulted Ted's wife and suggested
Cruz's father was in on the JFK assassination

"I'm going to tell you what I really think of Donald Trump. This man is a pathological liar. He doesn't know the difference between truth and lies. He lies, practically every word that comes out of his mouth...Whatever he does, he accuses everybody else of doing. The man cannot tell the truth, but he combines it with being a narcissist, a narcissist at a level I don't think this country has ever seen...the man is utterly amoral. Morality does not exist for him."

Senator Ted Cruz, 2016

"God bless Donald J. Trump!"

"Lyin' Ted" Cruz, last night

Trump spread "birther" lies about
South Carolina-born Haley

"We need to acknowledge (Trump) let us down. He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, 2021 

"Let me be clear, Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period." 

"Nimbra" "Birdbrain" Haley, last night

Rubio once wondered why the hands of 6'2"
 Trump were the size of someone who is 5'2"

"He runs on this idea that he is fighting for the little guy. But he has spent his entire career, sticking it to the little guy...If you all have friends who are thinking about voting for Donald Trump, friends do not let friends vote for con artists." 

Senator Marco Rubio, 2016

“It is time to put our country and its people first again…Together we will make Donald Trump president again!”  

“Liddle Marco” Rubio, last night

Trump, who once implied DeSantis
was a pedophile, now calls him
"a really terrific person"

"You can be the most worthless Republican in America, but if you kiss the ring, he’ll say you’re wonderful."  

Ron DeSantis, earlier in 2024

“Donald Trump…stands up for America…We cannot let him down.” 

"Meatball Ron" DeSanctimonious, last night

“Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office; My God, what an idiot.” 

Trump running mate J.D. Vance, 2016

Check out the whole, pathetic Day 2 of the RNC Convention in Milwaukee Bing Videos

A great take on the current state of the GOP (from Rex Huppke, USA Today): Nikki Haley booed, other sad losers paraded out for Trump's Republican National Convention (msn.com)

WI's Ron Johnson and "his" people

"Unity" has been tabbed the new watchword for Milwaukee's RNC convention.

Wisconsin's own US Senator, Ron Johnson, took the podium yesterday to address the GOP (aka: the new "unity party," apparently) with his personal take on unity:

"Today’s Democrat agenda. Their policies are a clear and present danger to America, our institutions, our values, and our people."

WI's Sen. Ron Johnson is a bit confused
about the meaning of the word "unity"

So, not only does Johnson essentially call Democrats a "clear and present danger," he very clearly pits the sides against one another in "us" vs. "them" camps (highlighted by my italics, above). He states that a Democrat's values and institutions are different from, and dangerous to, HIS values and HIS people.

Johnson claims the wrong speech had been loaded into the teleprompter--his rewritten speech had supposedly omitted the line about "clear and present danger" as well as the "us" and "them" descriptors of his fellow citizens and constituents. But, the fact is, this divisive speech is the one he intended to give before Trump was shot. And, um, actually, he did give it, after all (just maybe Johnson wasn't aware enough or bright enough to realize the word unity was nowhere to be found in the words he was saying?).

But the idea of his people is nothing new for Johnson. At a 2020 Janesville, WI, presidential rally, a hot mic picked up Johnson telling Trump, "You know who doesn't love this country? Joe Biden supporters." 

Trump supporters? 

HIS people.

More than half the country's voters--as well as the majority of his home state constituents--who voted for Biden? 

NOT his people.

And, of course, Johnson claimed he wasn't worried about January 6 rioters as they attacked police, ransacked the US Capitol, or threatened Vice-President Pence because he "knew those were people who loved this country (and) would never do anything to break the law."

Violent Trump supporters?

 HIS people.

Oh, yeah, and then Johnson added, "Now, had the tables been turned...and President Trump won the election and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter...protestors, I might have been a little concerned."

Black Lives Matter protestors? 

NOT his people.

So, it appears that Ron Johnson--and the GOP that backs him and asks him to speak at its convention--have a ways to go before they can meaningfully use the word "unity," huh?

Will Trump's shooting change him? I'm guessing, no

Will the assassination attempt be a catalyst for Trump's personal change?

Because of the shooting, Trump has supposedly altered his upcoming convention speech, calling it "a chance to bring the whole country, even the whole world together."  Trump claims, instead of attacking Biden, he will focus on unity.

Call me skeptical. 

Wallace and Trump were both shot while campaigning,
and the similarities don't end there

Trump's had plenty of chances to call for unity before and instead has stoked division--from his "American carnage" inauguration remarks (about which Former President George W. Bush commented, "That was some weird sh*t") to his calls to jail opponents to imploring January 6 supporters to "fight like hell." And, unlike Biden's recent national speech to calm the nation after the attempt on Trump's life, Trump never once addressed the country, for example, about the murder of George Floyd. 

But such change has happened before (albeit far too little, and far too late).

Against the backdrop of the 1960's, in a country of southern whites angry and scared about integration and civil rights, George Wallace ran gubernatorial campaign ads shouting, "Wake up Alabama! Blacks vow to take over!" And, yet, in 1968, Wallace garnered an incredible (and terrifying) 13.5% of the popular vote as a third-party presidential candidate (which translated to 46 electoral votes from southern states).

Note: Trump has tapped into that same disgusting (and unwarranted) white rage (for example, through his numerous instances of calling undocumented migrants rapists/animals/convicts that are poisoning the blood of our country).

Wallace--a loathsome man who once vowed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever"--was shot while campaigning for the primaries in 1972.

The man behind sending state troopers that mercilessly beat Blacks peacefully marching for voting rights (a dark day that's now known as "Bloody Sunday") supposedly reflected on his horrific words and actions regarding civil rights after becoming paralyzed from the shooting. In fact, the man once reviled by Blacks and whites alike publicly changed his views, becoming Alabama governor yet again (amazingly, with 90% of the African-American vote), appointing scores of African-Americans to governmental posts, working to increase Black voter registration, and with continuing admissions of the repugnance of his earlier views.

So, there's precedent for a vile, populist presidential candidate to search his soul and change his views following an attempt on his life.

Will that happen with Donald Trump in Milwaukee this week with his GOP convention speech? Will it be unifying? Will it be soul-searching? Will it be inspiring?

We'll just have to wait and see.

But I wouldn't bet on it.