Quote of the Day

– Image: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Christian evangelicals – most of whom strongly back Trump, convinced in many cases that he and his candidacy is ordained by God – will likely comprise a majority of the Iowa caucus attendees. (They represented two-thirds of the GOP caucus in 2016.) Never mind his terrible, criminal behavior: His insistence that he’s facing political persecution resonates.

. . . Frankly, this willingness to overlook Trump’s degradations and desecrations by registered GOP voters from across the spectrum – people who refuse to take legitimate legal inquiries into his behavior seriously – makes this election season feel surreal. While much of the traditional political media is busy analyzing polls and assessing the candidates’ performances, they’re missing the real story. Trump is not really running for president: Rather, this criminal defendant is exploiting the political system to seek immunity, delay his trials until after the election and exact retribution against his enemies. This is not politics as usual, but fundamentally a crime story.

– Steven Beschloss
Excerpted from “Entering the Bitter Season”
America, America
January 15, 2024

Related Off-site Links:
Why That “Landslide” Win in Iowa Could Spell Trouble for Trump – Phil Boas (Arizona Republic, January 16, 2024).
Trump Doubled His Voting Base in Iowa. Here’s Who Voted for Him – Ronald Brownstein (The Guardian, January 16, 2024).
Why Trump’s Hold on Evangelicals is So Hard for DeSantis and Haley to Break – Ronald Brownstein (CNN, January 16, 2024).
Illiberal Democracy Ain’t Democracy – Alan Singer (Common Dreams, January 16, 2024).

UPDATE: America Stares Down a Trump-Biden Repeat in Disbelief and Denial – Reid J. Epstein and Ken Bensinger (The New York Times via Yahoo! News, January 19, 2024).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Charlie Sykes: Quote of the Day – August 24, 2023
• Rahna Epting: Quote of the Day – June 9, 2023
• Robert Reich: Quote of the Day – April 11, 2023
• Jeff Sharlet on the Fascist Ideology of Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene
• Chauncey Devega on the Ongoing Danger of the Trump Cult

Image: Outside Trump headquarters in Urbandale, Iowa – January 13, 2024. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)