Josh Mandel was the sycophant’s sycophant where Donald Trump was concerned. He gave the term obsequious toady new meaning as he became virtually a parody of Trump in order to gain his approval and his eventual endorsement for the GOP primary in the race for Rob Portman’s old seat in Ohio. Then Trump dumped him on Friday and Mandel was crushed — but only for a moment. He recovered quickly and took to Twitter to kiss Trump’s ass yet once again and stated his wishcasting, that Trump would come around and endorse him anyway. Pathetic doesn’t begin to describe it.
So how did all this get rolling? How did Josh Mandel get schlonged? The answer: he did it to himself and not overnight and not with just one misstep. The Bulwark:
Mandel clearly hoped for Trump’s endorsement, since he had led from the opening bell—and despite his reluctance to get on the Trump train early, he chose to be the craziest Trumpian sonofabitch in the race.
But maybe he went too Trump? Mandel was more of a Trump sycophant than anyone; to the point where it became a bit unsettling. Even Trump himself thought Mandel’s still-mysterious disappearance and even-more-mysterious subsequent divorce, combined with his obsession with Trump, was creepy. Mandel has long been a ladder-climbing opportunist, but when even Donald Trump thinks you’re a weirdo, it might be time to rethink your life choices.
How far did Mandel go? He got himself kicked out of an RNC fundraiser in Florida, when he went to represent grassroots MAGA against the MAGA swamp.
He went to Florida for an Apprentice-style meeting with Trump, along with other Ohio senatorial candidates. In a debate he even said he’d do anything (anything?) to get Trump’s support. Mandel’s campaign has three “policy” pillars: He says he’s pro-God, pro-Guns, and pro-Trump.
So what happened? The fact of the matter was, Mandel was too much of a dork for Trump. Seriously. Daily Beast:
Starting at the very dawn of the Biden presidency, a slate of increasingly MAGA-fied Republican candidates have each competed for Donald Trump’s coveted endorsement in the critical, Hunger Games-esque U.S. Senate primary in Ohio. But for the past year, the ex-president has steadfastly refused to pick a favorite and intervene in the intra-party battle, even though the candidates—including the once-clear frontrunner Josh Mandel—have campaigned as if they were overtly simpering parodies of Trumpism.
There are a few key reasons why the twice-impeached former president hasn’t yet endorsed Mandel or anybody else in that race. One reason for the hold-up is that Trump—who has long been addicted to dishing tabloid-style gossip and dirt—has for months told people close to him that he thinks Mandel is a charisma-free weirdo and dork, according to three sources who’ve spoken to Trump about Mandel and the Ohio contest since last year. […]
“The [former] president has used the term ‘fucking weird’ to describe Josh Mandel more than once, when I have spoken to him about” Mandel, one of the people said. “He has talked about [Mandel] and sex in the same sentence more times than I would have liked to hear.”
The other two sources, both of whom requested anonymity in order to talk about private discussions, corroborated accounts of the ex-president’s newly acquired interest in the alleged details of Mandel’s sex life or personal ongoings. Those sources relayed that Trump had also told them some combination of the following:
Mandel doesn’t have the right “visuals” or “look,” and could come off poorly on TV. Having met with and talked to Mandel, Trump felt there was just something about Mandel and his personality that rubbed him the wrong way. Also, the former president and current leader of the Republican Party has sensed a conspicuous dearth of “charisma” coming from this particular GOP Senate hopeful.
I haven’t been able to find any salacious details of Mandel’s sex life and the fact that I’m spending Easter morning engaged in such an activity has led me to examine some of my own life choices, I’ll tell you what. But whatever the sordid particulars. Mandel has managed to do what Matt Gaetz and Jeffrey Epstein weren’t able to, which is gross Trump out.
Apparently the final straw for Trump was Mandel getting into a confrontation with challenger Mike Gibbons, which almost went to fisticuffs. Again, if your behavior plays out as tasteless to Donald Trump, it’s time for some serious soul searching.
Mandel will have plenty of time for that. Whether he’ll do it is questionable, but he will have the time.
