Trump’s Grip on His Party May Be Weakening

William Kristol: “In three months, the Republican party will nominate Trump as its presidential candidate for a third consecutive time. This is unusual in American politics.”

“Yesterday Republicans in the United States Senate voted 31 to 15 for aid to Ukraine. House Republicans had divided 101 to 112 a few days earlier. So a (slight) majority of all Congressional Republicans voted for aid to Ukraine. Most Republican members of Congress took a position on a very important issue against their presidential nominee. That too is unusual in American politics. I can’t offhand think of another recent instance of such a break from a party’s nominee in an election year by that party’s elected officials.”

“So in 2024 the GOP is still Trump’s party. But it’s somewhat less so than it was before this week. Maybe significantly less so.”