The GOP Lemming Effect Began Today, Watch Them Self-Annihilate

It has begun. You are perhaps familiar with the lemming, a small rodent which has been known to en masse leap off cliffs or jump into bodies of water. This has been thought to be suicide but is actually related to the lemmings’ migratory behavior. However, their behavior is unique enough in the animal world that the term “Lemming Effect” has been coined and it means, “going along unquestionably with the group with potentially dangerous consequences.”

So what happened today? Mike Pence’s former Chief of Staff, Nick Ayers, issued an endorsement of Donald Trump. Why is that a big deal? Two reasons. As Axios says, “It’s a sign that after this week’s swift and decisive Iowa caucuses results, Trump is starting to pick up endorsements from Republicans who have previously stayed neutral.” It’s also important because Ayers was given entree to Trump world when he was asked to replace John Kelly. He refused. But that was then and this is now and now, Ayers has decided, they’ve all decided, in a kind of suicidal group mind, that supporting Donald Trump is the way that they want to go. In for a penny, in for a pound.

“What happened in Iowa was an overwhelming mandate that every dollar should be spent on consolidating the GOP, not attacking Republicans,” Ayers told Axios.

• “How long are the candidates going to stay the race and continue to divert money to an intramural squabble?”
• “Let’s set aside the things we should be outraged over, and instead just evaluate the policy results,” said Ayers, who served for three years as Pence’s chief of staff during the Trump White House before co-founding Everylife Diapers.
• Everylife is a subsidiary of the shopping platform PublicSquare where Donald Trump Jr. is a major investor. (Ayers also sits on the board of PublicSquare)

The details: Ayers considers the remaining candidates — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley — friends but noted “they had two years to make their case to voters and they fell 3x short.”

Between the lines: Ayers tells Axios he has deep respect for Pence and that the two men enjoy a great friendship.

I don’t doubt that’s true. And assuming it’s true, then Ayers just endorsed a man who didn’t care if his great friend got killed. In fact, he encouraged it, by saying that, “It’s all up to Mike Pence now,” and when Pence didn’t pick up the cue and do Trump’s will, then the chants, “Hang Mike Pence” and “Fuck Mike Pence” rang out, as the mob surged down the street towards the Capitol.

Now this begs the question, “What will Mike Pence do?” Will he support Trump for a second term? “The truth is that this was a riot that should never have happened,” Pence said on January 7, during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. He also said he hopes that Republican voters get behind a different candidate than Trump. Pence said the upcoming Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary are a chance for “good Republican voters” to “give our party a fresh start and give us new leadership to lead our party forward in the election and beyond.”

In theory that’s true. But in point of fact, there is no new leadership and no fresh start. There’s only the Lemmings Party gathering for one flaming grand jeté off of the cliff. So look sharp as to what you see in the next week or so, even. Simply between here and the end of this month, you should see a number of major events: 1. Ron DeSantis finally throwing in the towel; 2. Nikki Haley possibly quitting as well; 3. Endorsements of Trump flying like bats out of Hell; 4. Judge Engoron returning a verdict in the Trump Organization fraud case, possibly as much as $370 million.

Or, Haley may stay in the race a bit longer. DeSantis can’t. He’s run out of money. Jonathan Last at the Bulwark has all the details. But for now, where things stand with DeSantis is one of his staffers said:

“The sentiment is we have and can raise the resources to get through South Carolina.”

Last replies, “When a campaign starts trying to assure people that they can probably raise enough money to get to Point X it means that they absolutely don’t have the money to get to Point X.” 

So then we go on to the next question, “Will DeSantis and Haley endorse Trump.” Absolutely. It’s only a question of time. At least Chris Christie got out with his honor restored and Asa Hutchinson made a dignified exit, with the blessings of the White House, no less. They won’t go over the cliff. But watch the rest of them do just that. It has begun.

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