Paul Kengor: Trump on the attack, again

“Lying Ted!” he barked. “Choking Marco!” he snapped.

Those were just two of Donald Trump’s shots at fellow Republicans on the debate stage while pursuing the party’s 2016 presidential nomination. Of course, those shots at Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were mild compared to others. Just ask Cruz about Trump’s crude insults of his wife, Heidi. Or, sticking with fellow contenders for the GOP nomination, recall what Trump said about Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face! Can you imagine that the face of our next president?!”

Now, apparently running again, this time for the 2024 GOP nomination, Trump is back in form. In Latrobe last weekend, he dubbed Ron DeSantis, his chief rival for the 2024 nomination, “Ron DeSanctimonious.”

It was a shocking personal attack against someone with whom Trump has been friendly, especially given their Florida ties. DeSantis is widely liked among Republicans, who don’t view him as sanctimonious at all. In fact, he’s liked among many Democrats. All of that explains why Trump is suddenly vilifying DeSantis, because the popular Florida governor stands in his way in 2024. Many Republicans thought that Trump might have changed in that regard since 2016, but this is who Donald Trump is.

I talked to people who were at the Latrobe rally, one of whom instantly texted me, “Trump just referred to ‘Ron DeSanctimonious.’” I’ve read the reactions online, including at pro-Trump websites; they’re universally negative. A piece at Breitbart, “Donald Trump Nicknames Gov. DeSantis: ‘Ron DeSanctimonious,’” has over 15,000 reader comments, many of them shocked and angry. They ask why Trump would engage in such intra-party sniping just before a huge midterm electoral victory for the GOP.

The answer: He can’t help himself. He’s his own worst enemy.

This is the behavior of an egotistical, insecure man-child. It explains why Donald Trump, though he counts on the utter adoration of a huge segment of Americans, is reviled by far more. And it explains why — and this is critical — Donald Trump will never get 50% of the vote in a general election.

I’ve had Trump supporters tell me that no Republican could get 50% of the vote. Really? George W. Bush did it in 2004. His father did it in 1988. Ronald Reagan did it twice. In 1984, Reagan won 49 of 50 states and took the Electoral College 525 to 13. This past week marked the 50th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s November 1972 landslide, when he likewise won 49 of 50 states and got over 60% of the popular vote. And back then, there were far more Democrats than Republicans.

Republicans have gotten over 50% of the vote more often than Democrat nominees have. Until Joe Biden in 2020, the only Democratic presidential nominee to get over 50% of the vote since LBJ in 1964 was Barack Obama.

The problem for Republicans isn’t that 50% of the vote is unattainable by a Republican nominee; the problem is that 50% is unattainable by Donald Trump as the nominee. His supporters hate it when that’s pointed out, but as Trump himself made clear yet again last weekend in Latrobe, he’s terribly divisive even within his own party.

Is he too divisive to get the GOP nomination in 2024? I think so, but we shall see.