Once we found out that The Dispatch’s David French disapproved of Twitchy’s “Trumpist” posts, this editor said he was going to make all of his French posts VIP posts so that The Dispatch would have to cough up for a VIP membership to be offended. We’re giving out this one for free, though … happy Sweetest Day.
You’ll be shocked to learn French’s latest for The Atlantic is about Donald Trump, and how there’s only one group to blame for how Republicans flocked to him.
"The Mitt Romney martyr theory thus suffers from a fatal defect," writes @DavidAFrench. "It presumes that large numbers of Republicans weren’t radicalized before Romney’s rough treatment. In truth, they already hated Democrats and the media." https://t.co/BCJBqCXqyX
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) October 14, 2022
Here, French lays out the Mitt Romney martyr thesis:
Ever since Donald Trump won the Republican nomination for president in 2016, an industry of rationalization and justification has thrived. The theme is clear: Look what you made us do. The argument is simple: Democratic unfairness and media bias radicalized Republicans to such an extent that they turned to Trump in understandable outrage. Republicans had been bullied, so they turned to a bully of their own.
No aspect of that theory has been more enduring than what I’ll call the Mitt Romney martyr thesis. The Republicans nominated a good and decent man—so the argument goes—and the Democrats and the media savaged him. Republicans respected norms, Democrats did not, and now those same Democrats have the gall to savage the GOP for Trump?
French related how he, along with his wife, formed a group called “Evangelicals for Mitt.” But the GOP was already radicalized:
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The Mitt Romney martyr theory thus suffers from a fatal defect. It presumes that large numbers of Republicans weren’t radicalized before Romney’s rough treatment. In truth, they already hated Democrats and the media, and when Romney lost, their message to the Republican establishment in 2016 was just as clear as it was in South Carolina in 2012. No more nice guys. The “character” that mattered was a commitment to punching the left right in the mouth.
And?
David French surrenders more often than the actual French
— Dr. Judgmental Shoelace, PhD. 🇺🇸 🇭🇰 🇹🇼 (@DocKilmer) October 14, 2022
David French writes fan service for Atlantic readers.
— J (@ARaised_Eyebrow) October 14, 2022
LOL this is when Republicans turned their backs on the media. The Times New Roman font strikes again. Dan Rather still denies he fed America a pack of lies to this day. pic.twitter.com/mAa82VEU3j
— CLOSE YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT 🐳 (@DefundTheFBI) October 14, 2022
This is so disingenuous because David French himself was a five star general in the conservative fight against perceived left wing bias right up until he wanted to fit in with his new friends on the left in this age of Trump.
— Conservative Man (@conservbrownman) October 15, 2022
It's true. McCain took the high road against Obama and they still called him a bigot. Joe Lewis used his civil rights icon status to smear him as George Wallace 2.0 pic.twitter.com/gR5BxnA8HQ
— KSLawWolf (@KSLawWolf) October 14, 2022
People like French and his old Weekly Standard crew preferred to lose with dignity than to win by fighting dirty. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it isn't where the majority of people are, regardless of which side they are on. People want to win.
— Sollozzo (@Sollozzo77) October 14, 2022
This piece is a mess. Yes the right was aware of the media’s treatment of the GOP. Romney proved that not fighting back would get you slaughtered by the press. How is that the voters’ fault? Now with Romney’s treatment of Lee, he deserves GOP scorn politically and personally.
— Louis “it’s fine” Dunn (@LouADunn) October 14, 2022
Endorsing Evan McMullin is what you get with “nice” Mitt Romney.
Americans don’t support Democrats and the media. It’s not just Republicans.
Media is trusted by less than 1 in 5 Americans.
This month’s Gallup poll shows a +6 R advantage. Independents are breaking heavily R.
Cope harder.
— Troy M. Olson 🇺🇸🗽🦅 (@TroyMOlson) October 14, 2022
Hating the media is "radicalization"?
I'm an independent who has never voted Republican and I hate the media. Look at national polling on what the public thinks of the media. Only liberals have positive views of it.
— Monitoring Bias (@monitoringbias) October 14, 2022
Wow the pearl clutching here… Ever think they have a legitimate reason to hate the media, David?
— JEFF2975 (@JEFFWH75) October 14, 2022
“Radicalized” is especially laughable if you make the assumption that no one on the left has gone through the same process.
— dhejdhh (@dhejdhh) October 14, 2022
Just because David French takes the money to write pander pieces doesn’t mean those articles are worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin get’n it on.
— Matt Werth (@matthewwerth) October 14, 2022
The media’s already trying to convince us that Ron DeSantis is worse than Trump, who was worse than George W. Bush, who was a war criminal who was ticketed for drunk driving once. His alternative to DeSantis in 2024? Mike Pence.
***
Related:
Bulwark writer says it’s a ‘straight-up lie’ that Joe Biden said Mitt Romney would re-enslave blacks https://t.co/kSRtiQ1OQx
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 3, 2022
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