Has the Republican Party lost its mind—and its way—in its slavish devotion to Donald Trump, who insists that the 2020 election was stolen from him through extensive voter fraud?
That’s the question that journalist Robert Draper investigates in his new book Weapons of Mass Delusion, which looks at rising Republican stars such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R–Ga.) and failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who are diehard Trump loyalists, and established party leaders such as likely Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who is openly terrified to cross the former president.
I spoke with Draper shortly after the midterm elections, in which the GOP had an unexpectedly poor showing against a massively unpopular Joe Biden. Is this a sign that Trump’s hold on his party—and the country—is weakening? And is there any reason to believe that the party of Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater may return to its small government roots?
We also talked about Draper’s 2014 New York Times Magazine cover story, “Has the Libertarian Moment Finally Arrived?,” which prominently featured me and Matt Welch.
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