I'm halfway convinced the whole Tucker Carlson Putin interview was an excuse to get the two men in a secure room so Tucker could coordinate a deal with Putin on Trump's behalf without being overheard by the NSA.
I wouldn't doubt that at all. I also wouldn't be a bit surprised if Trump is just using all those Vice Presidential hopefuls for a lot of butt kissing, but has always planned on naming Trump loving propaganda and lies spreading Tucker, another Putin lover, to be his VP.
There was a lot more gun control in the 1860s than there was today. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gun-control-old-west-180968013/
So speaker johnson's big news was he will help push trump disinformation about election fraud... despite the only few instances of fraud found were republicans.
Texas Republicans don't give a damn how many guns are sold to mentally ill people, or those who wouldn't pass background checks. All they care about is pushing guns and getting paid to push against laws that will help prevent guns from getting into the hands of the wrong people. They disgust me with their greed for NRA money and their blatant negligence. Sen. John Cornyn pushes back against Biden gun background checks https://www.chron.com/politics/article/john-cornyn-gun-reform-texas-19397377.php
Republican voters have been shrinking as a result of the Southern Strategy and demographics. Bush gained a following campaigning with Compassionate Conservatism and even spoke Spanish while campaigning, but that didn't work out in reality. The nail in the coffin was when his own Congress rebelled and rejected immigration reform that would court Latino voters. Trumpism deliberately caters to those crazies you listed because they typically stayed out of politics. It's an entirely new base that terrified establishment GOP but had no other alternative to fight the numbers. If you're wondering why GOP politicians have no spine, their base is effectively bolstered by Trump crazies and Trump crazies are more prone than normies to vote in primaries. There's better things to do or care about in life than boring primaries...like watching the never-ending bonfire in DC!
You don't need to worry about Trump. There is ZERO chance that the Washington Establishment will permit him to return to the White House. In fact, the Washington Establishment will NEVER permit any person to become U.S. President who isn't beholden and loyal to serving the Washington Establishment. The U.S. had a good run as a democratic republic but now it is dead. We are governed by a fascist oligarchy.
