For those posters who argued back in November and December that the GOP would turn on Trump once he was defeated, this Politico story should put that argument to rest. Trump held a fundraiser to raise money for a candidate to oppose GOP Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who was one of the 10 House Republicans who dared to vote for his impeachment.
Trump "invited" all 4 of the top Ohio Republicans running for the Senate seat there in 2022 to a unscheduled private meeting. There he forced them to more or less audition for him to earn his endorsement for next year's Ohio GOP primary.
"It was a scene right out of "The Apprentice." Before the dinner began, the former president had some business to take care of: He summoned four Republican Senate candidates vying for Ohio’s open Senate seat for a backroom meeting. What ensued was a 15-minute backroom backbiting session reminiscent of Trump’s reality TV show...The scene illustrated what has become a central dynamic in the nascent 2022 race. In virtually every Republican primary, candidates are jockeying, auditioning and fighting for the former president’s backing. And the former president, as was so often the case during his presidency, has seemed to relish pitting people against one another.
One person familiar with what transpired in Wednesday evening’s huddle described it as “Hunger Games,” an awkward showdown that none of them were expecting. Making matters even more uncomfortable, this person said, was that the rival candidates sat at a circular table, making it so that each had to face the others. Multiple people familiar with what transpired during the meeting said most of the tension seemed to be between Timken and Mandel, and that it appeared they were trying to outdo one another. According to one account, Mandel added that he was “crushing” Timken in the early polling. Timken laughed off the broadside, insisting that her internal polling showed her in a strong early position.
The former president indicated that he was aware of surveys showing Mandel ahead. But at one point, he asked if the former state treasurer was fully committed to the contest — an apparent reference to Mandel’s decision to withdraw from the 2018 Senate race, which at the time he attributed to his problems with his wife’s health. Mandel responded: “Mr. President I only know two ways to do things: either not at all, or balls to the wall. I hired a bunch of killers on my team. I’m a killer, and we’re going to win the primary and then the general.”
So apparently the way to win a GOP Senate primary now is to endlessly kiss Dear Leader's ass while throwing shade on your opponents to their face in front of Dear Leader. And of course there is seemingly no end of candidates willing to endure such humiliating treatment for a chance at power. The Cult of Trump is indeed alive and well!
Link:
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/trump-ohio-candidates-478059