Sometimes things hide in plain sight. MSNBC personality Rachel Maddow was on to something when she mocked Michigan Republicans for the collapse of their state party apparatus into two rival camps, each claiming to represent the real Michigan Republican Party. She noted there was similar disorganization in several other states, including Florida and Arizona.

Maddow’s criticism barely scratches the surface. Newsweek reported the Arizona Republican Party had just $14,800 in its bank account as of August 2023. And in Michigan, the state party had only $93,000 as of July. It appears things have deteriorated further since then.

The GOP’s decision to underfund in Michigan and Arizona is particularly surprising since these are critical battleground states; Trump beat Clinton in 2016 by taking Michigan and Arizona. Since this surprise victory, Republicans have repeatedly lost critical races in both states: Consider the GOP losses in 2018, 2020, and 2022.

Those who think Joe Biden is such a bad president that there’s no way even the Republican Party could manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory may be in for a rude awakening. It’s becoming apparent that the Never Trump faction of the Republican Party is preparing the throw the 2024 election in swing states to ensure that Trump will never become president again.

If this sounds like an implausible conspiracy theory, consider who Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is. Michigan elected Ronna McDaniel’s grandfather, George Romney, for three terms as its governor. One may ask, “Romney as in Mitt Romney?” Yes, Mitt Romney, the dedicated Never Trumper, is McDaniel’s uncle.

The bias of the McDaniel-led RNC against Trump and non-establishment candidates is becoming so apparent that Vivek Ramaswamy publicly called out McDaniel in a recent candidate debate. Ramaswamy noted that the moderators of the debate have a decidedly left-leaning bias and had sidetracked the debates with questions about priorities important only to the Democrats.

“Think about who’s moderating this debate,” Ramaswamy said, “This should be Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk. We’d have 10 times the viewership, asking questions that GOP primary voters actually care about and bringing more people into our party.”

But it’s not just the party apparatus that’s a problem. Republicans in Congress don’t seem to understand where the voters are, either. In November, eight House Republicans defected, voting against impeaching the architect of the Biden administration’s disgraceful handling of immigration policy. Eight Republicans passed on the opportunity to hold accountable the man most responsible for this crisis. It’s simply unbelievable that Republicans would fail to act on one of the largest questions of concern to voters of both parties, indeed to most Americans. Obviously, voters gave their representatives an earful over the holidays, forcing their leaders to try again. 

Republicans similarly failed to confront the FBI for its election interference and targeting of Joe Biden’s political opponents. Sure, there have been plenty of hearings with soundbites of outrage. But FBI Director Christopher Wray, unlike his predecessor James Comey, has perfected the art of suppressing his contempt and ducking questions during congressional lectures. Wray knows it is wise to allow the congressmen to hurl abuse at him in front of the cameras without complaint, since their tirades have no real effect.

When congressmen do matter, Wray needs them to approve money for things like a giant new FBI domestic surveillance facility, and Republicans will dutifully fork over the $375 million required. Even after the FBI abused FISA to interfere in the 2016 election, Republicans dutifully worked to renew the FBI’s favorite tool for domestic political interference.  

If the Republican Party were run by a bunch of Trump-hating uniparty fifth-columnists who wanted nothing more than to suppress yet another “red wave,” how would they be acting any differently than they are now? How is it that Ronna McDaniel, the niece of a sworn enemy of the current Republican frontrunner, and with the party’s record of losses under her leadership, still running the GOP? She obviously hates Vivek Ramaswamy, and she doesn’t get along with Trump. So who is she serving?

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