Former President Donald Trump appears to have created a monster he can no longer control. He inspired violent rebellion, and now the rebels are turning against him. He inspired pandemic skepticism, and now the skeptics are rejecting his appeal to get vaccinated. He cultivated wild-eyed conspiracy theories and even gave White House press passes to the worst of those nut cases. Now the leader of the nut-case battalion is reportedly questioning whether Trump is a “dumbass.”
We’ll leave it to the experts to pronounce on the accuracy of Infowars host Alex Jones’ “dumbass” diagnosis of Trump. But Jones’ assessment is an indication of where the Trump brand might be headed. Sadly, Jones attacked Trump regarding a subject on which Trump really might know what he’s talking about: vaccines and the coronavirus.
Trump was hospitalized with the virus and at times, now, seems to understands the pandemic’s deadly seriousness. Trump also threw massive government funding and resources toward the rapid creation of vaccines now credited with reversing the previous spike in new infections and deaths.
Given Trump’s influence over the largely Republican group of vaccine skeptics who are fueling a renewed surge in infections, Republican and Democratic leaders have urged Trump to take credit for the vaccine and urge his followers to get on board. Trump did exactly that at a rally in Alabama on Aug. 21. “I did it, it’s good. Take the vaccines,” he said.
In what may be a first, his fans booed and heckled him.
The next day, Jones stated: “Shame on you, Trump. Seriously. Hey, if you don’t have the good sense to save yourself and your political career, that’s OK. … But, my God, maybe you’re not that bright. Maybe Trump’s actually a dumbass.”
Recall Trump’s unbridled support of the Proud Boys white supremacist group and his stubborn refusal in a presidential debate to denounce them, responding instead: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.” They did stand by, and when Trump pointed toward Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 and urged his followers to “fight like hell” against congressional certification of his election defeat, the Proud Boys reportedly were among the first to start breaking windows to attack the Capitol.
Now that top Proud Boys leaders are in jail, some are questioning their loyalty to Trump. A convicted leader of the Capitol attack, Ethan Nordean, wrote in an online chat that The New York Times says was obtained by the FBI: “I’ve followed this guy for 4 years and given everything and lost it all. Trump, you left us on the battlefield bloody and alone.”
These are just a few of the signs that extremists on the Republican side no longer blindly stand behind their formerly beloved leader. If the extremists in Trump’s base are jumping ship, perhaps now is a good time for saner, more moderate Republicans in Congress to do likewise.
