As it's said, when you elect clowns, expect a circus:
Arizona delegates to the Republican National Convention gathered this month in a Phoenix suburb, showing up to get to know each other and learn about their duties.
Part of the presentation included a secret plan to throw the party’s nomination of Donald Trump for president into chaos.
The instructions did not come from “Never Trumpers” hoping to stop the party from nominating a felon when delegates gather in Milwaukee next month. They instead came from avowed “America First” believers hatching a challenge from the far right — a plot to release the delegates from their pledge to support Trump, according to people present and briefed on the meeting, slides from the presentation and private messages obtained by The Washington Post.
The delegates said the gambit would require support from several other state delegations, and it wasn’t clear whether those allies had been lined up. One idea, discussed as attendees ate finger-foods [Ed. : yes, keep them away from sharp objects!], was for co-conspirators to signal their allegiance to one another by wearing matching black jackets.
The exact purpose of the maneuver was not clear — and left some delegates puzzled and alarmed. People familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said that perhaps the intent was to block an undesirable running mate. Most of the dozen GOP officials or activists interviewed by The Post even ventured that the aim may have been to substitute former national security adviser Michael Flynn for Trump if the former president is sentenced to prison time. Among some on the far right, suspicions have intensified that the former president has surrounded himself with too many advisers beholden to the “deep state.”... (our emphasis)
You can almost hear the buzzing of the bees inside their craniums from here.
The name "Michael Flynn" should be immediately call to mind his two- Scaramucchi long, bizarre tenure as National Security Advisor under convicted felon Malignant Loser and, subsequently, his lead involvement in a conspiracy- based Christian nationalist movement. His name should also be forever prefaced with "unregistered foreign agent" and "Putin asset."
Arizona Republicans, with the likes of Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar in the House and Kari Lake as their governor/ Senate candidate of late, have thrown in their lot with the QAnon/ paranoid conspiracies wing of the MAGAt cult, and this is what comes of it. Never fear, though. The convicted felon's minions were on it, for now:
Whatever the goal, the Trump campaign rushed to head off the stunt and replace the delegates. One campaign staffer involved in the cleanup described it to at least two Republicans as an “existential threat” to Trump’s nomination next month, two people familiar with conversations told The Post. To another Republican, the staffer described the scenario discussed by the Arizona delegates, however unlikely, as being “the only process that would prevent Trump from being the nominee.” [snip]
The campaign and the Arizona delegates reached an agreement that there would be no disruptions at the convention. Still, suspicions lingered about other state delegations, according to a campaign official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. He declined to elaborate.
The fracas exposed the challenges of choreographing next month’s convention in Milwaukee, where some 5,000 delegates and alternates will participate — many of them inclined toward the falsehoods and conspiracy theories that animate many of Trump’s supporters... (our emphasis)
We can't wait for the show.
(Photo: Looking forward to more of this in "horrible" Milwaukee / Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
