Q&A is Sunday 8-9pmET; George Santos as Outcome of Trump Remaking GOP in His Own image

Welcome back to Lucid! I’m writing to remind everyone that there is no Q&A today. This week the Q&A is on Sunday, Jan. 1 8-9pmET. Paying subscribers will receive a link to register for the Zoom gathering on Sunday afternoon. Everyone is welcome to ask a question or just listen in. If you’d like to join us, you can convert your subscription to paid through the end of December at 25% off for the first year:

I also wanted to give you an anticipation of the essay I am working on for you (starting next week the essays will publish on Tuesdays because of my teaching schedule at NYU). It is about Donald Trump’s systemic effects on the GOP’s political culture and values and how this is driving a transformation of party elites.

Congressman George Santos (R-NY) will be one of the three case studies, and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) (a favorite subject of mine) another. Since Lucid is also the product of our collective wisdom, if you have an idea for the third case study (Marjorie Taylor Greene? Someone less obvious who embodies the new GOP?) leave a comment below.

In the meantime, here is a teaser:

“When a corrupt autocrat such as Trump captures a political party he remakes it in his own image. Lying and fraud are prominent parts of Trump’s identity and they are now part of the GOP’s identity and practice. The success of Santos, who has been unmasked as a con man and is now under investigation by Long Island, NY and federal prosecutors, is just one outcome of this process.”