OPINION:
During the 2020 election, the swamp used every weapon under God to blast then-President Donald Trump out of the White House. After all, they had suffered four years of humiliation, starvation and irrelevance as he roamed their hallowed halls.
The political press, Democrats and even many Washington Republicans colluded in an unholy alliance to get Mr. Trump out of office. They peddled Russian propaganda, conducted congressional hearings into fake scandals, spun fantasies about his family and used a pandemic to hijack the election. Oh, and they shamelessly covered up extensive evidence of sprawling international corruption by the candidate running against Mr. Trump.
It all worked.
And one of the loudest ringleaders — The Washington Post — now admits that President Biden is such a steaming disaster he should immediately announce halfway through his first term that he is quitting in hopes of saving the Democrat Party.
But there is an even greater effort underway now that makes their last crusade of lies look like child’s play. As hard as they connived and colluded to get rid of Mr. Trump in 2020, they are working even harder to make sure he does not return in 2024.
In America today, working families struggle to buy groceries and fill up their gas tanks. Violent crime is spiking, and millions of Americans are gripped by an unprecedented drug epidemic. And there is an invasion at the border.
Yet, Congress is singularly obsessed with its third failed impeachment trial of Mr. Trump. That tells you just how desperate the swamp masters in Washington are to destroy any chance Mr. Trump might mount a campaign to return to power.
Just take the latest from Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who desperately clings to power by lording over the sham Jan. 6 committee in Congress. She announced Sunday that she and other swamp mavens intend to call Ginni Thomas — wife of sitting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — to testify before her committee about the events of Jan. 6.
Mrs. Thomas was not at the riot on Jan. 6 nor was she any part of it. Mrs. Thomas’ testimony serves no investigative purpose whatsoever except to inflame Trump-haters and capture the audience’s attention to a congressional stunt that the vast majority of Americans are ignoring.
Ms. Cheney’s only hope is to create so much political conflict and constitutional mayhem that Republicans run from Mr. Trump.
A word to the wise: These very same people promised the very same thing back in 2020 when they assured us that a vote for Mr. Biden would be a vote for returning to “normalcy.” A Biden victory would finally silence all the political caterwauling from Washington.
It was supposed to be the “make it stop” election.
So, how is that working out for you?
Of course, just like everything these people promise you from Washington, it is a total lie. Anything to cling to power. And Mr. Trump was the greatest threat to their power that ever existed. The only thing that would be worse for these people than Mr. Trump’s first term would be a second term from Mr. Trump.
A second term would correct all the lies these people told. Try as they might, there would be no fourth failed impeachment against Mr. Trump.
For Mr. Trump’s part, he would be stronger than ever. He would have learned lessons from his first term, and he would act without hesitation. He would not be distracted by all the nonsense in Washington that ground to a halt his first term in office.
Just listen to Mr. Trump’s stirring speech in Florida this past weekend, and you get a real sense of the clarity of his mission today.
Ms. Cheney and the swamp mavens are terrified — and they should be.
Swampers are screaming louder than ever about the dangers of Mr. Trump. A group of self-appointed “conservatives” last week published the “conservative case” about how the 2020 election — with its ballot-harvesting, shady ballot drop boxes and the cavalcade of media lies protecting Mr. Biden — was totally fair.
They.
Are.
Terrified.
So, why now?
Well, because as dishonest as these people are, they are not stupid. The answer to the obvious election question (Are you better off today than you were four years ago?) is clear.
Anyone — even these idiots in Washington — knows the answer. The world is in shambles. America is in ruin. And every bit of it can be traced directly to the policies of Mr. Biden and Democrats controlling every lever of power in Washington.
If he chooses to run, Mr. Trump has a simple and obvious campaign pitch that would be popular to the majority of Americans who are not consumed with the lies, games and nonsense of Washington politics.
If Mr. Trump stages a comeback and asserts his undeniable control over the Republican Party, he will be the nominee. And if he tests his campaign once again in a general election, he will most likely win.
And if Mr. Trump wins again, it will be the final death of these people Ms. Liz Cheney and their iron grip on power in Washington. They will be banished to never return.
One final point, Republicans in Washington — even those who worked with Mr. Trump in the past and would like to see him in the White House again — are deathly afraid he will announce his plans to run in 2024 before this November’s election. Such a “selfish” decision, they say, would give Democrats something to run on and undermine the coming Republican wave.
But Mr. Trump — wisely — sees these things very differently. Mr. Trump’s philosophy has always been: Pick the fight and pick it now. A joyful gambler in life, Mr. Trump is best when he bets his political capital for bigger political victories.
After all, one of Mr. Trump’s greatest achievements has been to teach Republicans how to fight. This is their chance.
So, go ahead and have a referendum on Mr. Trump this November. And match it against Mr. Biden.
And see who wins.
• Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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