2023 proved that Trumpism will never die

by Oliver Ghorbanifar

Now that the new year is finally upon us—and with it the knowledge of an impending apocalyptic battle for the presidency, and along with it the very soul of America—it is edifying to reflect upon the true significance of 2023.

While the year was chock full of significant and troubling events across the globe, more than a few of which can be directly attributed to Joe Biden’s feckless incompetence, the most significant of them didn’t take place in Israel, Ukraine, or even Washington.

Rather it happened across the United States and inside the GOP itself: it was the year that MAGA proved once and for all that it is here to stay.

Though it seems like a thousand years ago now, at the end of 2022 things were bleak for MAGA in general and President Trump in particular.

Republicans had underperformed drastically during the midterms with many candidate backed by Trump losing what many political observers believed to be winnable races. To add insult to injury the only place where the prophesized red wave did actually manage to appear was in the state of Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis led the party to a historic route of the Democrats.

To many observers it was looking more and more like MAGA’s time might finally be up, with DeSantis’ brand of obsessive cultural warring be officially christened as the future of the GOP by the chattering classes.

The days and weeks after the election were filled with thinkpieces eagerly fantasizing about this fictitious future, in much the same way they were dreaming of second Clinton administration in the weeks before the 2016 election.

The promise of a series of impending state and federal indictments against Trump only added fuel to the fire, you could literally feel the deep state and its allies in the media salivating and rubbing their hands together eagerly in anticipation.

But then the most unusual thing in the world happened (which was in fact the most predictable thing in the world), once again old Donny Trump wriggled right out of their carefully laid trap.

Instead of DeSantis’ new wave of cultural conservatism completely swamping and overcoming a fading and troubled Trump campaign, the opposite happened and it was the DeSantis campaign that quickly began to take on water.

Beset by a series of self-inflicted wounds including an embarrassing campaign launch, an overly aggressive cadre of socially maladjusted influencers, and a series of tone deaf talking points, DeSantis’ endeavor quickly floundered and is currently circling the drain.

A similar series of events seem to have enveloped the deep state’s echeloned lawfare attacks on Trump, which were designed not only to convict and imprison him on a series of bogus charges but also to tarnish him for good in the eyes of the electorate. After all, would the American people really nominate, no less make President, a man who had been convicted by a federal kangaroo court?

The answer, it turns out, was not what they were expecting.

Instead of wilting in the face of the thug tactics of the deep state and its designated enforcer, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Trump fought back even harder. It appears that they had somehow forgotten that Trump actually thrives under pressure, and is significantly more attractive to voters as an insurgent underdog fighting and winning against tremendous odds than as a comfortable incumbent.

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