In these dark times, it's more important than ever to nurse tendrils of joy. So it is a great pleasure to watch all the Republican leaders who repeatedly intervened to protect Donald Trump from himself now reap their reward: a big ol' contempt loogie in their eyes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. and his allies turned their nose up at the chance to bar Trump from ever running for office again after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In turn, Trump has worked to humiliate them by nominating the worst possible people for high-level federal appointments.
Trump's loyalty tests of congressional Republicans have escalated quickly from "walk naked through the streets" levels to "eat puke" levels. First, it was the nomination of Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, even though he admitted the Army "spit me out" after "members of my own unit in leadership deemed that I was an extremist or a white nationalist because of a tattoo." (He's referring to multiple tattoos that are understood this way by Christian and white nationalists themselves.) Then Trump escalated to nominating substitute Fox News host Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, despite her affection for dictators like Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill. deemed "traitorous." Then the topper: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to be the attorney general.
