Abbreviated pundit roundup: A bad week in court for Team Trump, a good week for America

[Brexiter]

What with the Ye and GOP extremism stories (as well as the Georgia runoff), it's important to note how badly Trump did in court this week:

• WaPo: Ariz. county ordered to certify election as GOP lawyers are sanctioned
• CNN: Federal judge orders former top lawyers in Trump’s White House to testify in criminal grand jury probe
• Lawfare: 11th Circuit Vacates Cannon’s Order to Appoint a Special Master in Mar-a-lago Investigation
• CNBC: Trump ex-chief of staff Mark Meadows ordered to testify in Georgia election probe
• AP: Oath Keepers’ Rhodes guilty of Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

Each one of these stories is a big deal. Together, they’re a statement.

Yair Rosenberg/Atlantic:

This is Who Trump Always Was

The man who dined with anti-Semites last week is the same man who ran for president in 2016. Many just didn’t want to see it.

The incident has alarmed even some of Trump’s staunchest supporters, and drawn wide-ranging condemnation from figures as varied as Senator Marco Rubio, former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He mainstreams, he legitimizes Jew hatred and Jew haters,” one longtime Trump ally told the New York Times. “And this scares me.” Like many Jews, I’m glad to hear rebukes from Republican officials and activists. But I’m also shocked that they are shocked. Trump’s unrepentant rendezvous with racists was many things, but it was not surprising. After all, as I noted back in 2016, he and his allies have been boosting bigots from the fever swamp ever since Trump entered politics.

Republicans are criticizing Ye and Fuentes because they want the benefits of hatred without the social, professional, and political consequences of performing overt bigotry. They need it to remain subtext. But are fine with the hatred otherwise.

— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) December 2, 2022

Tina Nguyen/Puck:

Has Trump Already Lost ’24?

The opening act of Trump’s campaign has been defined by characteristic missteps—Kanye, Nick Fuentes, Herschel Walker—but also uncharacteristic lethargy as a post-midterms, MAGA bunker mentality takes hold.

G.O.P. insiders I’ve spoken to over the past several days are particularly concerned that Trump, despite his rage at losing the presidency, is not acting serious about taking it back. There is no doubt that he wants to be front of mind for voters: He announced that he was running for president months before any of his potential opponents in a clear attempt to dominate the field. (Ron DeSantis, as I recently reported, is unlikely to announce his own decision until late spring or early summer.) But while Trump has made himself relevant again, his underwhelming post-announcement moves merely highlight his unique vulnerabilities. “Trump’s hold on the party has dramatically weakened,” a longtime conservative activist told me, stating the obvious. “And that’s why you’re seeing the very lackluster and weak support for his candidacy for the ’24 presidential race.”

Omar Wasow at UC Berkeley sees West in an “uncoupling of classic white supremacy ideas. Now Enrique Tarrio can be the head of the Proud Boys. The coalition forming is decreasingly defined by race and more by ideas like a patriarchal, chauvinist and Christian nationalist vision.”

— August Brown ? (@AugustBrown) December 2, 2022

Baltimore Banner:

Plastering hate: Why white supremacist stickers are appearing in Maryland and beyond


How Patriot Front’s nationwide campaign is recruiting members, spreading hate, and funding its efforts while sowing distrust among local communities


The Baltimore Banner collected and analyzed posts by Patriot Front members and supporters on the messaging platform Telegram, where the organization regularly circulates information to followers. The analysis of two Patriot Front channels found more than 500 posts claiming to show the dissemination of 2,407 stickers, banners and flyers throughout Maryland since the beginning of 2020. The Telegram channels also featured thousands of other posts about the group’s propaganda campaigns across the country.

It’s understandable if you never want to hear the words “Kanye West said” ever again. But there are at least three ramifications from yesterday that we should note and remember.https://t.co/P9hDF28rkt

— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) December 2, 2022

William Saletan/Bulwark:

Paying for Dinner

How Republicans have been trying to spin Donald Trump’s meal with Ye and Fuentes.
1. Say nothing...


2. Don’t mention Trump. Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader and likely the next speaker, avoided comment until midday on Tuesday, when reporters confronted him outside the White House. When they asked why he had “yet to condemn the former president,” McCarthy responded: “I don’t think anybody should be spending any time with Nick Fuentes.” Rick Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, used the same dodge. When reporters asked him whether Trump should condemn white supremacy and antisemitism, Scott replied, “I think Republicans should all condemn white supremacy and antisemitism.”

Why do McCarthy, Scott, and other so-called Republican leaders duck explicit invitations to address the former president’s behavior? Because they’re cowards.

3. Blame staff. According to the Washington Post, when Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina was asked about the dinner, he “declined to say whether Trump should apologize.” Instead, Tillis answered: “Whoever had responsibility for knowing the backgrounds of people in the room, I hope they’re already fired, because that was bad decision-making on their part.” John Thune, the Senate’s second-ranking Republican, agreed: “I don’t know who’s advising him [Trump] on his staff, but I hope that whoever that person was got fired.”

This week in the economy: Jobs 263K jobs last month, Biden now at a staggering 10.5M, 750K manufacturing GDP Revised to even stronger 2.9% last quarter Real incomes Core PCE inflation at .2% from .5% the month before Gas prices below levels pre-Putin’s war

— Jesse Lee (@JesseLee46) December 2, 2022

Roger Sollenberger/Daily Beast:

Herschel Walker Ex Comes Forward: He Attacked Me in a Rage

Parsa is one of five women who were romantically involved with Walker who spoke to The Daily Beast for this article. All of them described a habit of lying and infidelity—including one woman who claimed she had an affair with Walker while he was married in the 1990s. All five women said they were willing to speak to expose the behavior of the man they now see running for Senate.

The Daily Beast sent a Walker campaign spokesperson detailed questions for this article. The spokesperson declined to comment.

This is the first time in the campaign that a woman has gone on the record with accusations against Walker. His candidacy, however, has been dogged by other allegations of domestic violence, specifically from a 2008 interview with his ex-wife that resurfaced ahead of his announcement last August.

GEORGIA EARLY VOTING MATH THREAD 12/2 AM Democrats started the week with a massive advantage (a 46-38% black/white plurality with an 182K EV volume) before all 159 counties could vote. Since then, they've largely done well with EVing. What about yesterday? (1/)

— John Couvillon (@WinWithJMC) December 2, 2022

8. To get to a racial mixture EQUAL to the November "primary" (when Sen. Warnock received 49.4% of the vote), Walker needs a 75-16% white/black EV today. 9. Why does the racial breakdown matter so much ? Simple. GA is a Deep South state with a substantial black population. (4/)

— John Couvillon (@WinWithJMC) December 2, 2022

CNN:

Warnock holds a narrow edge over Walker in final undecided Senate contest

Overall, 52% of likely voters say they plan to support Warnock in Tuesday’s runoff and 48% pick Walker. Partisans on both sides are deeply entrenched, with nearly all Democrats (99%) behind Warnock and 95% of Republicans backing Walker. Independents break in Warnock’s favor, 61% to 36%, but make up a relatively small slice of likely voters, 17%, compared with 24% in a CNN exit poll of voters in the first round of this contest last month. (Warnock finished narrowly ahead of Walker in November but without the majority of the vote needed to avoid a runoff.)

I’m looking at the Georgia early vote and thinking this is like a good middle-distance runner with a great "late kick" (i.e., has juice at the end). E-Day vote advantage (in this case, for the GOP) works in reasonably close races, not so much if too far behind.

This morning's early voting count, along with racial composition, compared to the general election. pic.twitter.com/AD9Ag3DZgC

— Charles Stewart III (@cstewartiii) December 2, 2022