In An Alternate Universe, Trump Is Disgraced And Gone Forever — But Not In Ours

WASHINGTON ― In an alternate universe somewhere, Donald Trump, fresh off his coup attempt that sought to end the 237-year-old republic, is disgraced and gone from politics forever, banished by his own party for what he did long before the legal system could catch up with him.

In our universe, though, the former president not only remains un-banished by Republicans, but has tightened his grip on the party even further, easily shaking off nearly a dozen rivals, and is now on the cusp of clinching the presidential nomination.

“If they hadn’t been cowards at every turn, there were a lot of inflection points,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican consultant who has spent years working to end Trump’s hold over her party, as she reflected on the GOP’s failure to rid itself of a man now facing four criminal indictments and 91 felony charges.

“Vladimir Putin looked at Donald Trump and thought, this is a weak man who will do anything for power, and Donald Trump looked at the Republican Party and thought, these are weak men and women who will do anything for power,” said Stuart Stevens, a Republican strategist with decades of experience on presidential campaigns. “And they were both right.”

Trump cannot technically reach the 1,215-delegate mark needed to clinch the nomination for another week or two, even with his final opponent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, dropping out Wednesday. But in retrospect, he likely had it wrapped up on Jan. 28, 2021, the day then-House minority leader Kevin McCarthy traveled to his South Florida country club, and in so doing delivered the message to Republican elected officials and voters that Trump was still their leader ― despite what had happened just 22 days earlier.

In the early days