Republicans are choking on the 2022 red kool-aid

Not Trump’s Night: The Red Wave That Wasn’t
Echo opinion letter to the editor of The New York Times:

Former New Jersey Governor turned pundit Chris Christie* criticizes Trumpty-Dumpty 2022, candidates.

Re “Trump Hoped for a Celebration but Did Not Have Much to Cheer” (news article, nytimes.com, Nov. 9):

Trumpty-Dumpty kool-aid drinkers 2022, reality check.

Many of the candidates supported by Donald Trump who did well in the primaries did not do well on Election Day. 

Will this be enough for the Republican Party to cut his stranglehold?

In contrast, Ron DeSantis had an easy and decisive win in his Florida gubernatorial race. This is good news for Democrats if Donald Trump is the 2024 Republican presidential nominee. If Mr. DeSantis is the candidate, I’m not so sure he can be beaten. He’s smarter, more strategic and disciplined, and his demeanor is more palatable to moderate Republicans and independents, especially compared with wacky Mr. Trump.

He’s a much more formidable opponent, and his demagogy and political vindictiveness make him very dangerous. Mr. Trump wears his dangers on his sleeve, so that makes him extremely predictable. Mr. DeSantis covers them under a rational facade.

Chris Nicole Prince in New York

And wait, there's more!

*Chris Christie 3.0 is, apparently, a return to Christie 1.0 – a Republican willing to loudly and publicly criticize party leaders, namely Trump.

In the wake of Trump’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “genius,” Christie took to Twitter.

“How can anyone with any understanding of the world call Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy’ as we watch him unite the rest of the world against Russia in nearly an instant,” asked Christie, referencing Trump.

Christie continued: “Putin has two choices now: an unwinnable occupation of Ukraine after leveling the country and murdering its hero President (if that is even achievable) or a humiliating retreat. Yeah, that’s ‘genius’ and ‘very savvy’ alright. No walking that back. History is watching.”

Christie’s Russia critique is only the latest sign of his increased willingness to call out Trump. He has also blamed Trump for the January 6, insurrection at the US Capitol. “I think everything that he was saying from Election Night forward incited people to that level of anger,” Christie told CNN’s Dana Bash.

To hear Christie tell it, his breaking point with Trump was the false claims of 2020, election fraud.