Ex-Republican politician says party is just 'waiting around for Trump to die'

A book about the inner workings of the Republican party during the Trump administration revealed that a former Republican congressperson said the GOP's plan for Donald Trump is 'we’re just waiting for him to die'.

In Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission, journalist Mark Leibovich wrote that the Republican party's plan to move away from Trump in the 2024 election is not exactly foolproof.

"A former Republican congressman told me recently that the party’s only real plan for dealing with Trump in 2024 involved a darkly divine intervention. “We’re just waiting for him to die,” he said." Leibovich wrote.

The quote sparked backlash from anti-Trump and former Republican Tim Miller who criticized the GOP for not doing enough to distance themselves from Trump in a piece for The Bulwark.

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Miller compared the 'waiting for him to die' quote to one from an anonymous senior Republican official in 2020.

"What is the downside for humoring him for this little bit of time?" the quote from The Washington Post reads. "No one seriously thinks the results will change,” said one senior Republican official. “He went golfing this weekend. It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on Jan. 20."

Obviously, that quote aged poorly, as two months later a mob of die-hard Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to overthrow Congress.

"In present-day Republican politics, that anonymous “what’s the downside for humoring him” moron actually won the day." Miller wrote in his piece. "And not just that day, but today. Because despite how brutally and blatantly their strategy in managing Trump’s psychopathy failed, Senior Republican Officials (SROs) are still employing it."

Miller forewarns people that failing to put an end to Trump's dangerous rhetorics puts democracy at risk.

But because Trump holds a lot of power among his fanbase, he is able to sway politics by offering endorsements to those he aligns with meaning those who want more votes need to remain on his good side.

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