Why GOP candidates are failing to make a 'compelling argument against Trump'
07 September 2023
'Venal' Chris Christie’s 'hard-nosed Trump critic' posturing deserves no applause: journalist
Two of Donald Trump's rivals in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), have been downright scathing in their criticism of the former president. But most of the criticism of Trump coming from other Republican candidates has been mild or tepid, and he is showing no signs of losing his frontrunner status.
In a Morning Consult poll released on September 6, Trump is ahead of the second-place candidate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by 45 percent.
Conservative journalist Rich Lowry, best known for his work for the National Review, examines Trump's dominance of that primary in an op-ed published on September 7. And he offers some reasons why Trump's rivals for the GOP nomination are trailing him so badly.
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"Donald Trump is winning the Republican nomination race in a walk, and it's been quite the pleasant stroll," Lowry observes. "That's because his opponents can't make the most compelling argument against Trump — namely, that for myriad, deep-seated reasons he's poorly suited to represent the GOP and become the country's president again."
Lowry adds, "So, the other top contenders are left with more glancing, indirect criticisms that don't land with the same force, if they land at all. Trump's opponents tend to say that he's not electable, or he didn't deliver on his promises, or we can't argue about the past, or we can't have our attention diverted by distractions, or we need a new generation of leadership. This is different than saying that Trump's poisonously stupid conduct in office and afterwards was completely unacceptable and alienated the middle of the electorate, that he creates his own private realities, that he will say anything without regard for the truth and that he is profoundly selfish, easily distracted and vengeful."
Lowry notes that Christie has been attacking Trump aggressively but is unpopular among 73 percent of GOP voters, according to the Wall Street Journal polling.
"Christie made the correct point about Trump's indictments during the first Republican debate — that whatever you think of them, the underlying conduct is awful — and got poor ratings for his performance from voters," Lowry argues. "The root of the problem is that Republicans really like Trump and believe, even more than ever after the indictments, that he is being treated unfairly."
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Rich Lowry's full op-ed for Politico is available at this link.