Craig Harper

Why does it seem like nothing can break the support the die-hards have for Donald Trump? Why does it seem like their blind spot is so large that he could seemingly say or do anything and they would still have his back? From the outside looking in it seems irrational, but it’s deeper than that. Many if not most of us lost friends and even family due to our support for Trump, especially early on. We knew the consequences, but we saw the upside so we did it anyway. We tended to excuse his obnoxious personality and even actions we didn’t like because we knew the good outweighed the bad, especially when he was doing things we liked as president. Over the years that becomes ingrained, and what was once a pragmatic alliance, for many became a cult of personality. They became ‘onlyTrumpers’, even when the bad started outweighing the good and he became a liability. Now, when they are asked to abandon the person they spent so many years supporting, there is an irrational knee-jerk desire to reject that request and ignore any evidence supporting it. Toss in the unjust prosecutions, and the desire becomes even stronger. A perfect encapsulation is people in this camp posting the cartoon frog holding the sign that says, “Don’t care, still voting Trump.” To them, Trump can never do any wrong. There is a guilt, but there is also a reluctance to even broach the possibility that something we have put our blood, sweat and tears into over the last several years may have been a waste. It’s human nature. I know. I felt it myself as I considered changing my support. Nobody wants to think they have wasted time and effort for nothing. Nobody wants to think they put their personal relationships at risk for nothing. Except, it wasn’t a waste, and it wasn’t for nothing, not yet anyway. The irony, however, is that if we continue on this path, the future will erase what happened in the past. With Trump, the GOP is headed for a wipeout of epic proportions. There is no mathematical way he can possibly win the general election, no matter who the Democrats run. We will lose everything we gained and more, and the party will be destroyed. As much as I loathe to admit it, the ‘neverTrumpers’ of old, the ones I spent column after column refuting back then, will ironically have been proven right. At this point, Trump’s legacy is being demolished by his own stubborn actions and irrational desire for power and revenge. His diehard remaining supporters need permission to jettison Trump, not just for the country’s good, but for his own. His legacy deserves that. Well, here’s your permission, if you will consider it. Electing a Republican who can pardon Trump and preserve and build on his accomplishments is the best thing we could do for the MAGA movement, full stop. I hope enough people can see that before it’s too late.