Conservative Writer Says Trump Is Prepared To 'Burn Down' The GOP

In a recent column for The Bulwark, conservative writer A.B. Stoddard listed out the possible ways that Donald Trump could end up "burning down" the entire Republican Party if he doesn't get his way in the midterms. From running third party to going scorched earth against every sitting Republican, Trump is a timebomb waiting to go off on them. And, as Farron Cousins explains, they only have themselves to blame for this.

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*This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos.

In a recent column for the bull work, conservative writer ab Stodd wrote that Donald Trump will absolutely burn down the Republican party if he doesn't get his way in the G O P primary. Now, before I read you part of what, uh, uh, miss Stoddard wrote here, which I agree with a hundred percent, it's important to know that Miss Stoddard is not the first person to talk about the fact that Trump's gonna burn it all down his niece. Mary Trump recently also said that other conservatives have said Trump will burn it all down. It's actually quite a common phrase right now because everybody understands Trump's gonna burn it all down. Now, most of the other folks have pointed out that Trump will burn it all down, essentially by running as a third party candidate if he doesn't secure the Republican nomination.

But Stoddard actually brings up another very interesting way that he could burn it down. And this one honestly would probably be even more damaging to the Republicans in the long term. Here it is, they have to worry that if Trump falls behind in the primary polls and another clear leader emerges, he will leave and trash everyone. He won't wait to lose the nomination. Since he cannot permit an actual defeat, he will eject himself in advance and campaign against the party. Chaos always wins. Trump understands that anyone who dares to get into the race with him will have to agree that yes, it's all a political persecution and Trump is innocent, and that the best way to own the LIS is to vote for him. Again, they will have to say this because if they don't, then they will either lose the primary or lose some sizable percentage of Republican voters. Trump rode to power by fighting the Republican establishment because he understood that it was weak. He realized that whatever Republican elites might say, they'll always come to heal heel.

So to boil that down, here's what Stodd is basically saying. If Trump is not the nominee, what the actual nominee will have to do, assuming you know Trump doesn't destroy them first, is they will have to come out and basically say all the things that Trump has been saying. Otherwise, you're not gonna get the mag of voters, right? You can't have a Republican nominee in 2020 that comes out there and says, or 2024, excuse me, that comes out and says, by golly, the 2020 election was fair and Joe Biden's the real president. You've just lost half the mega freaks at least. So you've gotta push Donald Trump's lies, but you gotta do it in a way that doesn't alienate the normal people. So that's a very uh, uh, uh, fine line. You gotta walk there and that's assuming you're even able to

Walk, walk that line because as Stoddard correctly points out, Trump will probably burn you down before you even get to that point. And even if he does burn you down, you become the nominee. You still have to say these things, which is gonna cost you on one side or the other, whether you choose to say it or to not say it. So Trump essentially has the entire Republican party in a vice grip right now. You either do what I say or I destroy you, and if I get destroyed, you still have to do what I say because my people will destroy you in the polls. Otherwise, it's almost as if no matter what happens, Trump wins. And that's kind of the case with the Republicans because if he doesn't get to be the nominee, he will trash that person. That person could likely lose. Then he'll say, see what happens when you don't have me? It's a catch 22 then that isn't accurate by the way, but it's what he'll say. It's what the people will believe and Trump gets to claim a victory even if he loses everything. That's kind of how he operates. He is a master of spin and no matter what happens, he will spin it as a victory and he'll make sure his base believes every word of it.