By Withdrawing in Favor of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden Proves That Only the GOP Is a Personality Cult | Democrats acted as a proper political party, while Republicans remain in thrall to a dangerous authoritarian.

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-republican-personality-cult/

43 comments

  1. They’ve failed three elections in a row to remove an unqualified candidate from their ticket. The Republican party is not qualified to run our governments across this country.

  2. Yep. Joe did something trump would never do, voluntarily stepping down for the good of the country. This secures his legacy

  3. I seriously wonder if this timing was planned for a week or more. If Biden dropped out prior to Trump choosing his VP, Trump may have chosen a woman. That would take some advantage away from Harris.

    Instead they announced after Trump picked another man, and Harris is left being the only woman in the race against two very white men.

  4. >Joe Biden’s decision on Sunday to withdraw from the presidential race illuminates a crucial divide between the two major political parties.
    >
    >Nixon himself provides a useful marker for how radically the Republicans have been transformed under Trump. Nixon was, famously, a crook who hijacked the powers of the presidency to undermine the Constitution. But when push came to shove, Nixon was rational enough to realize he couldn’t govern without the support of his own party.
    >
    >Donald Trump has never displayed the decency, respect for party cohesion, and civic-mindedness of even that scoundrel Richard Nixon. Trump was twice impeached, in 2020 and 2021. In the second impeachment, seven Republican Senators voted to convict a president of their own party. But those seven, although indisputably brave, were not in any way representative of their party. The vast majority of Republicans in Congress stood by Trump for both impeachments.
    >
    >Under Trump, the GOP has become nothing more or less than a personality cult. In a campaign stop in Iowa in 2016, Trump notoriously boasted, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” The evidence of the last eight years suggests that Trump was, for once, being uncharacteristically modest. In 2021, he incited a mob to attack the Capitol in order to overturn a free and fair election. By any measure, that’s a worse crime than simple murder, especially since both Trump supporters and police officers died in the aftermath. Yet only a small scattering of Republicans jumped ship.
    >
    >Since the Trump era that started in 2015, he has repeatedly demonstrated that the party is behind him not matter what. There are no red lines, no lie or crime, that could shake his hold. He can trash former party heroes such as John McCain, to the cheer of Republican crowds. His quondam critics in the party had to go through a humiliating ritual where they listened to Trump fling mud at them—and sometimes their family members—after which they usually came crawling to kiss Trump’s ring (to phrase the matter politely). This was the fate of Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, Nikki Haley, Marco Rubio, and Ron DeSantis. Those GOP critics who remain steadfast found they had no future in the party (the fate of the Never Trumpers, as well as Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney).

    The way this went down with Joe was imperfect, but in the end, the Democratic Party is the one who has shown to possess ethics, standards, and a willingness to question and correct itself for the better of the country.

    The other side is just a toxic wasteland that is representative of everything that is wrong with America.

  5. Now, make sure you, friends and family are still registered to vote and have not been purged off.

  7. This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-republican-personality-cult/) reduced by 92%. (I’m a bot)
    *****
    > Under Trump, the GOP has become nothing more or less than a personality cult.

    > The GOP convention in Milwaukee last week was a gaudy display of the Trump cult in action, with ordinary GOP members wearing fake bandages on their ears in tribute to their leader's supposed martyrdom, as if it were akin to Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross.

    > The best explanation for Trump's death grip on the GOP is the theory advanced by political scientists Daniel Scholzman and Sam Rosenfeld, who argue in their recent book The Hollow Parties that thanks to reforms in the primary system in the 1970s, American political parties lack social cohesiveness and are instead the vehicles of whichever personal faction wins the nomination.

    *****
    [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/1e9h5m0/by_withdrawing_in_favor_of_kamala_harris_joe/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ “Version 2.02, ~690964 tl;drs so far.”) | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr “PM’s and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.”) | *Top* *keywords*: **Trump**^#1 **party**^#2 **Republican**^#3 **Biden**^#4 **time**^#5

  9. Republicans often fail to understand that not everyone is in a personality cult. I’m thinking in particular of all the attacks on Dr. Fauci, as if he were the personification of COVID mitigation and if he were a bad person, this would somehow prove COVID isn’t real. Or the Hunter Biden thing, as if the reason we voted for Biden was because we thought he was so virtuous even his *family* must be paragons.

    Liberalism isn’t Bidenism, leftism *definitely* isn’t Bidenism, this isn’t a fandom and it’s not about personalities. If Biden turned out tomorrow to secretly be a cannibal, I would be horrified at *him,* but I wouldn’t suddenly reverse all my political positions, because *it’s not about him.*

  10. The Oligarchy withholding money played a strong role as well.

  11. Kamala is an ex-prosecutor. There is a non-zero chance she completely embarrasses Trump in the debate. As a woman. Imagine that ending

  12. This is an excellent observation. VP Harris is ready to take the reins, and President Biden is wise to let her steer this ship called the United States of America forward, while he finally retires and spends time relaxing with his family after serving this nation with distinction for over 50 years.

  13. To all the election-was-stolen peeps (my parents especially), this should prove that it’s not “rigged”. Biden would never need to drop out if they supposedly fix the numbers to insure victory.
    I know it won’t, but I’m hoping this changes the noise and pre-narrative idea that any liberal victory was done unfairly.

  14. Biden did the world a great service by dropping out – he made it socially acceptable for Democrats to show concern over 80+ year old people running for and holding public office

  15. Joe Biden stepped down willingly.

    Donald Trump launched an attempted coup that resulted in the deaths of 5 people and drove 4 police officers to suicide.

    That is the difference between the two parties.

  16. This isn’t Republican Party. It’s Trumps party.

    Republicans need to segregate themselves from this cult and actually start pushing an agenda that will help people.

    I would vote for a rock before I vote for Trump. He is just so hateful and doesn’t give 2 shits about us common folk.

    Get your shit together Republicans.

  17. The Republican Party is basically just about one person right now

  18. No one ever thought there was a Joe Biden personality cult lol

  19. I can’t believe the GOP’s candidate is such an old man. Not to mention he’s a rapist and a felon. Many say he’s so old he takes more catnaps than an elderly cat and that he has dementia.

  20. I like this article a lot. Conservatives are waist deep in making false equivalents to justify their loyalty to Trump. There is no Biden cult but they like to say there is to normalize their behavior. There is no liberal equivalent to the mental gymnastics that conservatives need to do to justify voting for Trump. This exposes a lot of their bullshit foundation.

  21. This is how I think most of us outside America are reading into this as well. Dems showed they are a party of integrity, and actually doing what’s best for the nation. GOP showing they have zero integrity and are willing to give their country away to a old, fascist wanna-be, sexual deviant.

    It’s not even a joke anymore that Jesus himself could be running and they psychos would still vote in agent orange.

  22. Biden stuck to the high road with determination. I faulted him for this. I felt like he was unfit to lead because he was too old and too nice. Then the guy went and shut me the fuck up by taking the highest, most patriotic road possible and he stepped aside. Biden is the fucking GOAT. Stood against trumps cartoon thuggery unwaveringly until his health couldn’t do it anymore. If it was his plan to wait til after the RNC *chefs kiss* fucking beautiful. Biden ends his career soon with the honor of being able to call himself someone who stood up against the rights attempt to end democracy and America as we know it. Hell of a fucking guy.

  23. The GOP and Trump are now interchangeable. He has made them just part of the “Trump Brand”. They have put all their eggs in one basketcase. As he goes, so shall they.

  25. The Vance VP pick makes terrible sense as a political move, but it’s perfectly in line with a cult leader naming his successor. The past and qualifications mean nothing as long as you guarantee a cash flow and an unwavering pledge of loyalty.

    That should hammer it home that this is no longer a party.

  28. Trump is a convicted felon, rapist, and raised your taxes while giving corporations a tax giveaway creating the worst inflation in US history probably since the Great Depression.

    He was a terrible president and is a terrible person.

    Make sure to Vote to ensure he never has another chance.

  29. It could’ve been smoother but at least we showed at the end that we’re the party of reality.

  30. The biggest thing I’m seeing here is almost complete unity from the media all of a sudden on “This was the right thing” and “Here’s how Harris can be great”. That’s a huge deal to suddenly snap the whole media atmosphere into line.

  31. It’s amusing to see conservatives paint this as some immense achievement by Trump. His debate “forced Biden into retirement”.

  33. ***s***

    Authoritarian***s***

    Anybody who enables an authoritarian is an authoritarian. If Trump dropped out, the person who took his place would be just as enamored with being a dictator as Trump was. The best difference is that nobody else is going to have that personality that can so effectively lead a cult.

  36. I was comfortable voting Biden however post debate thought he was a liability. Plus having two old white men at the top of the ticket isn’t that great for turnout. I believe Harris will energize a wider base. I also believe this move has the Trump campaign rattled.

    You’ll absolutely see a bump in her approval in the short term.

  37. Too bad Diaper Donnie continued to point out Joe’s age. Joe realized he’s no one man or woman is more important than the country and bows out. Lets see if Diaper D feels the same way?

    Doubt it. He’s attached to the Republican party and hopefully Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon and Marjarine Taylor Greene are playing the strings while the S.S. Rapist sinks into the Atlantic ocean.

  38. Anyone who needs this to be proved to them are not skilled enough in critical thought to be able to understand it anyway.

  39. “By waiting until essentially the last moment after years of valid criticism, the Democrats show they are not a personality cult.”

    The fact it took this long is a massive statement in the other direction. DNC > RNC all day, but come the fuck on. You shit media groups are why it took this long for the criticisms to weigh enough for something to be done. Stop downplaying how shit the DNC has become.

    Not a cult of personality? What the fuck happened to Bernie again? The dude they pushed out while because it was Clinton’s “turn”? Horseshit.

  40. I mean – a proper politcal party would have held proper primaries.

  41. Absolute insane take. Republicans went through a primary process and chose someone.

    Democrats tried hiding the Presidents ailments until it was no longer possible then anointed someone nobody voted for.

    As usual, the more copioum we see on this sub the worse situation the Democrat party is in. We did it Joe!

  43. We going to pretend Biden wasn’t forced to withdraw through sheer amounts of pressure and everyone abandoning ship after his poor debate performance?

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