From the moment Donald Trump became the preferred candidate on the 2016 campaign trail, Republicans have enjoyed moving the goal posts. The desire to beat Hillary Clinton grew into an obsession, and Trump, with a brand of “bravado” unlike the GOP had seen before, ate it right up.
Throughout that season, questions from members of the media about his past, including both his professional and personal life, were quickly dismissed by supporters. The goal of victory was greater than the man and any inquiry into his person. Now, more than 18 months after Inauguration Day, the electorate is facing a crisis. Two Trump associates have been found guilty. While Paul Manafort’s judgments speak to the underlying lack of character found in many of Trump’s most important hires, Michael Cohen’s plea deals highlight the failed morality of the president himself.
That we’ve arrived here, at this moment, is no surprise.
It’s unbefitting to take seriously a political party so beholden to a person that it rationalizes away consequential issues of integrity, especially including connections to crime. A major part of this week’s updated defense of the president is that the results of Tuesday’s legal proceedings were not about any collusion with Russia. Therefore, according to ardent supporters, the president is free and clear. Robert Mueller must conclude his investigation, the “witch hunt” must end, and Trump must be absolved of wrongdoing
We’re told to look away. There’s nothing to see.
[Related: Trump’s ‘bad week’: Manafort found guilty, Cohen enters plea deal]
So all this legal activity strange I see no “Russian collusion” in any breaking news. Odd.
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) August 21, 2018
But there is much on the table before us. Michael Cohen, the Trump’s former lawyer, laid bare some serious allegations against the president.
And why wouldn’t they? Cohen insists his actions were directed by then-candidate Trump. If his part in the dealings warrants severe consequence, then it’s fair to say the president should be in considerable trouble, too. On top of that, Tuesday’s admissions, from someone formerly devoted to Trump for years, shows a willingness to work with prosecutors. What that means for the Mueller team and whether Cohen’s compliance could reveal more potentially damaging information, including anything related to Russia, remains to be seen.
This is all insignificant to many in the MAGA camp. They view coordinated payoffs of two women with whom Trump had dalliances as minuscule in the big picture. That larger view contains a reality where the president’s agenda continues to move forward in his first term and he wins the 2020 presidential election. They want more of the same, not less. They are indifferent to virtually anything that rises up to challenge the man in whom they’ve placed the task of bettering the country.
However, if the tables were turned and these revelations were made while President Hillary Clinton was in office, the reactions from the majority of the right would be much more accusatory. Her criminality would be certain. The corruption, long-lasting. Calls for swift action and perhaps impeachment would follow. We’re not there yet in this Trumpian reality, but still, the contrast is a valid one.
Cohen’s revelations about arranging payment during the campaign underscore the extensive moral bankruptcy of the 45th president. The problem is twofold: the hush payments and the need for them in the first place. As stunning as the official admissions, we’ve known all along about Trump’s callous disinterest in virtue. And yet, he was breathlessly supported because, after eight years of Barack Obama, Republicans were thirsty for a win at any cost.
You can clearly see this mindset in defenses mounted by the likes of David Horowitz, who insists that the president is admirable while stating, “It’s a war and you can’t be neutral.” To defenders of Trump’s past and present behavior, there are only two sides: for or against the Trump agenda. If you even dare question the man at the helm, you’re the enemy. No longer should right and wrong lead the way. Instead, it’s whether you unquestioningly support the president or not.
Any other leader who came with such stringent guidelines of devotion would be rightly condemned by Republicans. When it’s an unabashedly outrageous, Hillary-defeating, owner of “the libs,” anything goes; even political chicanery.
I don’t blame the GOP for wanting to win, but I do question the continued insistence that says rectitude must be set aside in order to do so. If that’s the case, then those “wins,” whether on the campaign trail or in the White House, are not worth having.
If the shoe were on the other foot, would Republicans so blindly look past a similar deficit of integrity?
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a senior contributor at RedState.com.
