If you’re like me, you’re probably sick and tired of hearing the Democrats’ constant wailing and gnashing of teeth about the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. The left has been milking this situation for all it is worth – and it ain’t worth much. But there appear to be some on the right who believe the Jan. 6 hearings, which are a politically-motivated endeavor to hurt former President Donald Trump, might be working as intended. But if they think these hearings are going to prevent Trump from getting the nomination for 2024, they are dead wrong.
Politico reported that although “conventional wisdom” about the hearings was that “no single revelation was going to change Republican minds about Donald Trump,” a supposed “slow drip of negative coverage” might be harmful to his political future. The author indicated that a “significant portion” of the conservative base might be growing weary of the “series of revelations” about the former president.
From Politico:
The fatigue is evident in public polling and in focus groups that suggest growing Republican openness to an alternative presidential nominee in 2024. The cumulative effect of the hearings, according to interviews with more than 20 Republican strategists, party officials and pollsters in recent days, has been to at least marginally weaken his support.
However, the report also acknowledges that Trump’s approval among Republicans “remains high” as many still view him as the favorite for the nomination. “He still tops most primary polls, and Republicans largely haven’t been persuaded by much of what the Jan. 6 committee is doing,” the author wrote. “They were more likely last month than last year — before the hearings began — to describe the events of Jan. 6 as a ‘legitimate protest.’”
However, there are some indications that people are tired of hearing about Trump’s supposed behavior on Jan. 6.
“I think what everybody thought was that the first prime-time hearing was such a non-event that that would continue,” said Randy Evans, Trump’s former ambassador to Luxembourg. “But over the course of the hearings, the steadiness, the repetitiveness, has had a corrosive effect. You’d have to be oblivious to the way media works, the way reputations work, the way politics works, to not understand that it’s never the one thing. It’s the accumulation.”
He continued: “This is all undoubtedly starting to take a toll — how much, I don’t know. But the bigger question is whether it starts to eat through the Teflon. There are some signs that maybe it has. But it’s too early to say right now.”
There is some truth to Evans’ remarks. The Democrats have adopted a strategy that involves beating the public over the head with the riot at the Capitol building in the hopes that it would cause Republican voters to believe the former president has too much baggage to represent the party in the next presidential election. Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist, ran a series of focus groups since Jan. 6 2021, and claimed to have “three focus groups where zero people have wanted [Trump] to run again.”
She also said that while the Trump supporters in her focus groups are not “being persuaded” by the hearings, they “want to move on from the conversation of January 6th.”
It would be naïve to believe that the ongoing hearings are doing no damage to President Trump. The entire purpose of the circus is to push the Justice Department to indict him so that he will not run again. Barring an indictment, Democrats are banking on the possibility that they could at least cause enough damage to motivate conservatives to support a different candidate.
Indeed, one might take note that many conservatives state they would prefer to see Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take up the mantle instead of Trump. There are also indications among donor circles that they would like to see this scenario play out as well. However, much of this is likely not the result of the Jan. 6 hearings as much as Democrats would like. Many of these folks still appreciate what Trump did while he was in office but would like to see a more politically-savvy version of the former president continue the America First agenda. They view DeSantis as this embodiment of “Trump 2.0.”
Unless there is some verifiable bombshell revelation about Trump’s conduct around Jan. 6, it is doubtful that the Democrats’ gamble will pay off in the way they hope. It will not be enough to convince the former president to stay out of the race or to push voters to ensure he is not the nominee. They even went so far as to have one of their witnesses claim that Trump tried to go Chuck Norris on a Secret Service agent, and that still did not work.
The problem is that most Americans can easily see that the hearings are a political sham. Polls have shown that even Democrats view it as skewed in the left’s favor. The House Select Jan. 6 Committee does not come off as credible, which is why it is not doing the level of damage people believe it is. Nevertheless, we can expect to see more of this in the days to come. But if they think this is going to stop Trump from running, I have prime oceanfront property in Idaho to sell them.
