It’s a big day for the right-wing outrage machine.
Donald Trump was ruled to be ineligible for Colorado’s presidential primary ballot after he promoted, encouraged and refused to stop the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. The aftermath of Tuesday’s decision by the Colorado Supreme Court has become a Super Bowl of sorts for inflammatory take artists in the conservative movement, who have sprung into action to impress upon Americans why their dear leader should elude accountability.
Keep in mind: Republicans have essentially been preparing for this moment since the evening of the riot itself. The right’s repeated efforts to downplay and dismiss the violence — beginning with the members of Congress who voted in the rioters’ favor that night — were designed to give Trump’s anti-democracy efforts a veneer of legitimacy.
As was the Republican National Committee’s framing of Jan. 6 as “legitimate political discourse.” And the right-wing conspiracy theories about Jan. 6 being a “false flag” operation. And the GOP’s attempts to portray the insurrectionists as political prisoners. All of these have effectively served as pre-emptive defenses for the inevitable moments, like Tuesday, when Trump and his associates would be held accountable.
In other words, a lot of hand-wringing and histrionics from purported constitutionalists, who seem horrified that the Constitution’s text might actually be applied to Trump.
And in the aftermath of the Colorado ruling, GOPers are resorting to an assortment of “why I oughta” and “you’ll be sorry” reactions. In other words, a lot of hand-wringing and histrionics from purported constitutionalists, who seem horrified that the Constitution’s text might actually be applied to Trump.
Trump’s primary opponents largely rushed to his defense, claiming that the ruling was a leftist power grab. I also noted a trend of ostensibly Trump-averse conservative media personalities — like Frank Luntz and Erick Erickson —…
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