As RedState reported, ostensible GOP consultant Frank Luntz teased a coming “major story” that would supposedly prove “embarrassing” for Republicans and Donald Trump.
Here’s what that looked like last night.
When I did the initial write-up, I didn’t do much in the way of speculating what this was supposed to be because I honestly had no idea. What I did do was put my money on it being a complete nothing-burger that would only appeal to the beltway smart set.
Well, Luntz has now revealed the “embarrassing” anecdote that will appear in Jon Karl’s new, sure-to-be low-selling book, and I must admit that I was wrong. This won’t be a 12-hour story as I stated. It won’t even be a one-hour story.
If Luntz were trying to win grifter-of-the-year, what would he be doing differently? That initial tease made it seem as if some new, unique revelation was coming forth that would truly change opinions regarding Trump. Instead, the big news is that Trump temporarily did something he said publicly he might do? I mean, I can’t go search through his tweets anymore because he’s banned, but I’m pretty darn sure he threatened to start a third party several times. If I’m wrong on that point, I apologize, but that’s my recollection.
Further, even if this was something completely new, how is it embarrassing or a major story? We’ve always known that the former president was extremely upset following the 2020 election. He went full scorched earth following the certification, down to trashing his own vice president. Heck, I’d of actually been surprised if we found out he didn’t threaten to leave the party at some point over the last year. That he did is wholly predictable, and that’s assuming this anonymously sourced report is true.
Besides, by the end of February, Trump had denounced the idea of starting a third party. He did that as the keynote speaker at CPAC in Florida. In other words, even if Karl’s claim is true (and I’m not sure it is), it’s totally irrelevant at this point. Trump is not starting a third party and Republicans do not care that he might have considered it at some point.
I’ve seen people do some desperate things to try to hawk a book, but this ranks pretty high on the list. That Luntz carried water for Karl and is now pretending as if Republicans need to answer for this dumb rumor is laughable. The grift is strong with that guy. Maybe Kevin McCarthy should take note.