
For a few hours after January 6, it seemed like the Republican Party might finally be ready to quit Donald J. Trump. It happened again after the 2022 midterms: When the red wave never materialized, with ultra-MAGA candidates under-performing their more traditional GOP peers, some optimistic pundits and Never-Trump Republicans believed the spell was finally, truly breaking.
Then 2024 came and Trump, not even bothering to appear for debates, easily defeated his opponents in the Republican primary, reminding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his supporters in conservative media that candidates are ultimately chosen by Republican voters — and they, generally speaking, are not interested in a more disciplined version of the man they voted for in 2016 and 2020.