Republicans Prepare the Trump Loyalty Oath

Tara Palmeri: “According to multiple sources in the Senate and on the Trump team, National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Steve Daines has been ‘aggressively lobbying’ fellow senators to make their Trump endorsement now, before it’s too late and doesn’t matter. For the Trump team, the demand for a loyalty oath is not just about racking up enough support to finally vanquish his flagging competitors; it’s also about sending a message to the donor class currently infatuated with Haley as the Never Trumper du jour.”

“Sure, there are political risks around getting behind a former president facing 91 indictments, especially when he’s the kind of guy who will likely run a desperate, chaotic campaign and then enter the White House hellbent on retribution. As multiple news organizations have reported in recent weeks, Trump and his allies are assembling a shortlist of far-right enforcers—Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, Kash Patel—with a shock-and-awe mandate to target, and even jail, critics.”

“Naturally, they are making their case along purely Trumpian lines: Loyalists will get more credit for pledging their fealty now, before Iowa, which is now just six weeks away.”