Kevin McCarthy's Humiliation and George Santos' Philosophy of Life
Cult Dynamics and Cynicism Rule the GOP
"The GOP was already becoming a Trumpian party when Trump appeared to complete its self-destruction," I wrote in an August 2020 New York Review of Books essay. "Enticing and intimidating individuals into becoming their worst selves is what authoritarians do best. On this count, Trump has succeeded magnificently."
Three months later, Trump denied he had lost the presidential election, opening up a state of exception in American politics that put Republican politicians to the test. Far from finding the courage to break with their cult leader, party elites became even more submissive to his loyalty demands. That made them complicit in his attempts to overturn the election and incite a violent coup attempt on Jan. 6 to interrupt the peaceful transition of power.
The GOP has been transformed by such cult dynamics, which dictate how party elites behave and what kinds of individuals find a foothold there. Day after day, we witness one of the largest political parties in the world remake itself as an autocratic entity, discarding the values, norms, and rituals of democracy.
Authoritarians don't just hollow out democratic institutions, but also debase the meaning and the practice of politics, reducing it to lies, leader worship, and violence against enemies. That's why authoritarian parties become havens for a toxic mix of craven opportunists, racist bullies, and amoral individuals who are attracted by partnering with a leader who has no limits or restraints.
Some of these politicians realize the leader is using them, but are too complicit with his crimes to exit the game. In saving him, they believe they can save themselves. Others, who share the leader's transactional mentality, understand that when political ideals have collapsed, being used and using others is the game.
The behaviors of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. George Santos (R-NY) this past week exemplify these elements within today's GOP.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's spectacle of humiliation followed the authoritarian playbook faithfully. In an interview with CNBC, McCarthy stated that Trump could win the 2024 election, but he was not sure he could say that Trump would be the "strongest" candidate. "I don't know that answer."
As McCarthy discovered, two of these three statements are impermissible in the authoritarian world. Authoritarians always have to know the answer, and also know there is only one way to respond to such queries. You say whatever benefits the leader and increases his glory. How hard is that?
McCarthy also forgot the main rule of authoritarian cults: Never Criticize the Leader in Public. And so, a predictable cycle of events ensued. A phone call was placed, and an apology obtained for the act of disloyalty. And then the all-important public correction came, when McCarthy told Breitbart that Trump is "stronger today than he was in 2016."
Authoritarians "make an example" to enforce party discipline and show their "ownership" of party elites. It's a stunning testament to the strength of Trump's cult—and the weakness of McCarthy's character— that these dynamics are going strong years after Trump left office.
McCarthy has been through these cycles before. He had a rocky start on the path to GOP power after he worried in a June 2016 conversation with then-House Speaker Paul Ryan that Trump was on Putin's payroll. To atone for this sin, he became a faithful keeper of the Trump cult flame. He voted in Congress in accord with Trump’s wishes 97.3% of the time.
McCarthy will be under pressure to perform as Trump grows more panicky about his indictment and the numerous other legal proceedings that could jeopardize his candidacy. And McCarthy will once again display his servile nature, in the fruitless hope that Trump may one day recognize his loyalty and reward him for it.
McCarthy's GOP colleague Santos has no such illusions. A pathological liar who was indicted months ago on federal charges of fraud and money laundering, Santos is now the subject of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee on conflict-of-interest, sexual misconduct, and other charges.
In other words, Santos is well suited to thrive in today's GOP. He is a perfect addition to a House in which one-third of Republican members are election deniers, meaning they refuse to recognize the results of fair and free elections and peddle a false reality to their constituents. Santos understands this "institutionalized lying" intuitively, and has no qualms about dissembling or defrauding people, given that he is a skilled practitioner of both.
Santos is correct in believing that his power to dissemble and his absence of morals are sought-after qualities in today's GOP. In an interview with CBS2 reporter Marcia Kramer, he presented the "notoriety" he has gained from being deceptive as an asset to his political career.
"A lot of people come to me for support for co-sponsorships because they know it'll get attention and they're trying to get their bill notoriety," Santos told Kramer, summing up well the glamour of rogue behavior among today's GOP politicians.
"Is there no bottom?" people ask as they witness each new violation of the rule of law and democratic norms. Yet it is precisely this absence of a bottom that allows individuals like Santos to find a place in the GOP. Long ago, Trump let it be known (including by pardoning criminals) that all forms of lawlessness would be rewarded as long loyalty and public adulation of the leader continued.
"At the heart of strongman rule is the claim that he and his agents are above the law, above judgment, and not beholden to the truth," I wrote in Strongmen in 2020. "In Trump’s America...the legal and the illegal, fact and fiction, celebrity and politics blend together until nothing means anything anymore and everything is 'a confidence game'." Three years later, this perfectly describes the GOP.
Santos is being financed by a Russian oligarch. Hell, he may be a GRU mole.
What I want to know is, when is the country and the press in its many forms, are going wake up and call a spade a spade? Or in the case of the GOP, Fascist a Fascist! It is like we are whistling past the grave yard, or ignoring the crazy aunt/uncle in the basement. People love reality TV, well this is our county’s reality, it don’t get more real than losing your freedom, your civil liberties, your democracy. Once that happens you will only get them back by bloodshed. It makes my blood boil to know Trump is leading his party by thirty points for their nomination to be president. And if it is not Trump, you got the another Fascist wanting the the GOP nod for President, Ron meatball Mussolini DeSantis, who wants to either get rid of four Federal agencies, and if he can’t, we’ll he is going to use those four agencies to attack the left, woke ideology, and anybody he doesn’t like, and he said this on TV! People in America need to wake up and wake up quickly, because when they load us in cattle cars, trust me it is to late by then.