The unrelenting criticism of brash-talking Donald Trump by the Republican "elite" and mainstream media is only making the real estate billionaire stronger in his presidential run, according to President George W. Bush's former speechwriter Matt Latimer.
In a commentary for
Politico Magazine, Latimer argues the first GOP debate on Fox News next week "is already a total backfire for the establishment."
"Based on the latest polls, it will likely include every single one of the candidates the Republican elite despises: Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz—and banish to the losers' consolation round exactly the types of candidates the establishment presumably wants to showcase: a female business leader, an Indian-American son of immigrants and the consensus-building governor of the crucial electoral state of Ohio," Latimer writes.
"The controlled, somber and oh-so-civilized process that the GOP promised its donors is now the biggest free-for-all in American political history."
Republican party leaders wrongly assumed they could "bully people like Trump out," Latimer writes.
"That Trump is mocking and bewildering the reviled GOP hierarchy… fills the GOP electorate with a not-so-secret glee," he adds.
Latimer pokes fun at the "less interesting" establishment contenders, writing that Jeb Bush "comes across as what might have happened to George W. had he decided to become a physics teacher."
"Then there is the newest entry into the GOP race, Ohio’s John Kasich, who articulated exactly the kind of vision that the DC establishment generally supports," he writes.
"Unfortunately, Kasich happened to enter the race the same day that Mr. Trump, deep into one of his now-hourly feuds, decided to broadcast Lindsey Graham’s cell phone number on live TV. Which undoubtedly led to the most calls the Graham presidential campaign has received since it started."
But the bigger issue, Latimer contends is that Trump, "offensive, impulsive, unmanageable, unpredictable … is… exactly the candidate the DC establishment deserves."
"To many voters, rightly or wrongly, Trump is the antidote to years of Washington’s cynical, manufactured outrages, the petty punishments of those who deviated from the party line, its broken promises, meaningless 'show votes,' careful, poll-tested politician speak and a multitude of backroom deals that have solved exactly zero of our nation’s problems," he writes.
And he adds, Trump's total takeover of the presidential race "without breaking a sweat" must be "deliciously humiliating … for the political pros of DC. "
"[T]he attitude of the DC class toward his candidacy—temper tantrums and bouts of monumental arrogance—is only making him stronger," Latimer declares, adding, "the GOP has been equally hostile to Trump from the outset—and that hostility has only grown as Trump has gained traction with Republican voters."
Latimer also slams the mainstream media for fueling the "Trump phenomenon," including the Huffington Post, which pompously relegated "a legitimate frontrunner for a major political party’s nomination to the entertainment pages."
The Daily Beast's effort to use Trump's ex-wife, Ivana, against him also backfired, he writes.
"Rather than labeling her former husband a 'rapist,' the first Mrs. Trump warmly endorsed him for the White House," Latimer note.
"Thanks to this sort of clumsy incompetence, Trump has been handed every Republican candidate’s dream: the chance to run against both the GOP leadership and the mainstream media," he writes.
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