A cult move for Donald Trump – VG

In his first speech after he had to resign as president of the United States almost six weeks ago after just one term, many Donald Trumps were hardly surprised.

He mocked election winner Joe Biden for the work he does, hung them up on his own party who dared to stand up to him in connection with the Supreme Court case in February, continued his lies that he was the real one Election winner and yelled at the Supreme Court for not doing something about it, and showed no signs of remorse for the things he said before his supporters’ attack on Congress in January.

– This was very much expected, says Eirik Løkke in the Civita think tank.

– Completely beyond

The American expert believes that the all-weekend Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, was the only long-standing evidence that the Republican Party is still Trump’s party.

– A few years ago, the CPAC conference was on the intellectual side of the Republican Party. Now it is a cult move for Donald Trump, which was overcome with his own speech, says Løkke, who therefore agrees with the assessment that another American expert, Are Tågvold Flaten, made of the previous conference.

He called the conference “a round of applause for Trump.”

Løkke believes that the most illustrative example that Trump still has the party in his hollow hand, which a New York Times analysis also makes clear he has, is a Twitter message that Trump’s former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, sent after the president’s speech.

There he brags about Trump and writes that the speech was a necessary party to be able to meet behind to continue moving forward. She believes that the media is trying to create the impression that there is an internal civil war among Republicans.

– That message goes completely further, because it comes only a few days after she said it was a big mistake to follow Trump. It is clear that he has the ambition to run for president in 2024. He is the weather vane of all time. This is very revealing about where the party is headed, says Løkke, who adds:

– So, for those who were waiting for an agreement with Trump, this weekend was not a positive thing.

Will get rid of opponents

But even if Haley tries to claim that there are no internal conflicts in America’s second-largest political party, and even if it is clear that Donald Trump is the boss, it is impossible to claim that they are all in line with the president who resigned. .

A total of 17 Republicans in Congress would either put him on trial or vote to convict him when the case is over. Trump used the speech to urge the party to ditch them and make it clear that he has no plans to form a new party.

There is also no reason for him while he is, and neither are people like Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who after Trump’s speech said they were proud to “be named among the other heroes” who are in command.

Democratic Ordeal

Eirik Løkke believes that many of the Republicans who voted against Trump in connection with the Supreme Court case will have to fight to win their primaries before next year’s by-elections.

Instead, he believes that Trump loyalists who support him in the lies that led to the attack on Congress will win. He sees this as a sign that the Republican Party is moving further and further away from democratic principles and that they are increasingly becoming a pure Trump party.

– It bodes ill for American democracy, says Løkke.

He is not the only one concerned about American democracy. Read more about it here: Democracy Professor on America After Elections: – A Horror Experience

According to Løkke, this can be seen in many Republican-ruled states. These states are in the process of drafting electoral laws that will make voting difficult. Traditionally, it is his own party that has received the fewest votes.

– All development now is a picture that the democratic system is facing a great test, believes Løkke.

CNN political analyst Stephen Collinson writes in an article titled “Trump Unleashes New Threats Against American Democracy” that the president’s speech shows he supports laws that will make voting more difficult.

“Republicans need to do something about it,” Trump said.

Flirting with 2024

Donald Trump also used the speech, as predicted by American expert Are Tågvold Flaten, among others, to flirt with the idea of ​​trying to win back the White House in 2024.

-Maybe he decides to beat them a third time, he said, among other things, despite the fact that he has lost one of the two options in which he has raced so far.

Eirik Løkke, who mentioned Tågvold Flaten, is convinced that Trump will continue to speculate whether he will restore the heat.

– This is how it remains politically relevant. Your nightmare will not be.

While Tågvold Flaten before the weekend, on the other hand, told VG that he doesn’t think Trump actually votes, Løkke isn’t that convinced about it.

– I’m not surprised if he actually poses. This will likely depend somewhat on the legal challenges you will face, says the American expert, noting, among other things, that an investigation into Donald Trump and his tax documents is underway in New York.

More energetic

Trump will turn 78 during the election in 3.5 years, the same as Joe Biden today. Løkke thinks Trump looked better this weekend than in a long time.

– He seemed much more energetic and relaxed. It appeared that the body had benefited from a stint out of the White House and all the extreme pressure that such work entails.