does that suggest that as we get closer to an actual election day that it is possible, is it possible that the last year for a lot of these republicans was a cost-free exercise in indulging donald trump, but as they get closer to the midterms they start to realize indulging donald trump may have political costs and there are some forces of the party that may now be willing to buck him, not just on this but other things. we ll see about that. a lot of republicans are looking to see which way the wind blows in this feud. florida governor desantis is refusing to take sides in the trump/pence clash. at an event in miami desantis dodged a question about where he stands. reporter: where do you follow between pence and trump i m not i ve i ve you know, had a great relationship working for four actually, i was governor
by saying shocking things, but this is the party without donald trump. donald trump figured out a way to win in 2016, even though he didn t think he was going to win in 2016, even though he still lost by 3 million popular votes, and that was at high tide. yeah. the problem with trump, if this becomes the dominant gene, that dominant gene is a 40% gene in america. that s why if the republican party has a future, it is not with one of these trumpists, it is with a glenn youngkin. it is with a republican that actually knows how to win statewide, who knows how to win swing voters. donald trump lost. by the way, again i understand that right now they think they can sort of run this obstacle course and somehow get to 270.
what we have to cover, and it is getting very boring and repetitive. mike pence calling out donald trump is also something we have to cover because it was a big moment. it was. former south carolina nikki haley is calling out mike pence. she took issue with him saying this. president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. look, mike pence is a good man, he is an honest man. i think he did what he thought was right on that day, but i will always say i just am not a fan of republicans going against republicans because the only ones that win when that happens are the democrats and the media. yeah, yeah, yes, yes, yes. nikki haley is definitely not a fan of republicans going after republicans. no, don t do it. no way.
put upon by the media and by the establishment just like they were. but, yeah, there does seem to be more of a separation now. pat buchanan did have a moment in 92, did have a moment in 96. that moment passed. i think buchanan though is really a great place to trace trumpism too. but i understand there always has been that recesssive gene in the republican party, but it has been a recesssive gene. it has been the minority. it has been the one-third. all we have to do is look at, you know, what happened in 2006 when you had every single republican vote to reauthorize the voting rights act and now you can t find one that will go on the record saying they re willing to do that. this is a party that has changed radically, even in the past 15 years because of donald trump. but i will say though, i agree
with what buchanan told jeremy. trump is the person who carries this. it is not desantis. it is not mike pence. it is not nikki haley. i think the moment has passed. i have been wrong before about donald trump, but i think that 2016 moment has passed. i don t think there s anybody else that can pick it up, just like the reagan regulation wasn t transferable and obama s coalition has yet to be transferable. right. so there s a large question looming in all of that jeremy, your well-placed answer. if you think i covered buchanan in 96, it evolves constantly. when trump came along it looked incredibly familiar to me. it was almost like the issues were exactly the same, racist, xenophobic, white grievance, the china issues, the mexican issues and the made-up because