On Thursday, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes spent some time discussing the current list of GOP presidential candidates running against Donald Trump in the 2024 primary. And one of Hayes’ guests, Bulwark author and former Republican strategist Tim Miller, dismissed many of them as falling into one of two categories: “grifter” types theoretically hoping for a job in the Trump administration, and “delusional”.
Miller worked on the Jeb Bush campaign in 2016 before becoming a so-called ever-Trump Republican (he’s now an independent), and Hayes asked him about his views. Read on or scroll to the bottom of the page for the clip.
“So last time,” Hayes said, speaking of the state of Republican politics before Trump entered the race, “Obama was term-limited, right? So you will not have an outgoing President to take over. I think it always invites a lot of challengers. And there wasn’t that huge, formidable monster on the right… There was Jeb Bush, he was kind of the early favorite — there were reasons for people to think that. But nothing like Trump. Why are so many people coming in? This time nearby?”
“Jeb wasn’t in office for decades when he started running,” Miller said, “so he wasn’t really that formidable.” I was looking at several candidates, I like Jeb the best but, you know, I was assessing the open field as an activist, trying to decide who to work for. [And] Not at all this time.”
“So I think we have two things happening in this election,” Miller continued. “One is that you have a bunch of people who fit into the ‘grifter, slash, you know, maybe if things work out, I can fit into, you know, Trump administration’ category. Vivek Ramaswamy of the world. I think Mayor Suarez of Miami fits that bill. And then I think you have a really large and dangerous category of people who are delusional.
To that, Hayes joked, “Wait, wait a second, as in, a politician who is confused about his prospects and his appeal?
“Narcissistic and delusional? I know, it’s hard to believe Chris,” Miller replied. “But it’s [Tim] scott, [Nikki] haley, [Mike] pence, [Will] Herd. And I really think, my sense from talking to the people around him is that he’s, you know, in a bubble of this little minority of Republicans who agree with him, these are the people he They interact, you know, with the same donors that they’re working with. He deeply wants and desires the Republican Party to go back to a candidate like him.”
“And I think they hope that either Donald Trump will, you know, have a heart attack or get thrown in jail, you know, and things can fall into his lap, you know. Or that some magical angel is coming to take the Republican Party back to where it was in 1999. And that’s not going to happen. But I think this delusion is driving a lot of these people,’ Miller concluded.
Watch the clip below: