{"id":5203,"date":"2026-08-22T23:07:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T23:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203"},"modified":"2026-08-22T23:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T23:07:37","slug":"serious-republicans-should-flee-trumps-gop-clown-show-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203","title":{"rendered":"‘Serious’ Republicans should flee Trump’s GOP clown show: analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

New York Times columnists Michelle Cottle, Jamelle Bouie and James French could not fathom why \u201cserious\u201d Republicans would involve themselves in national GOP races with the current administration in charge of the party.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s military disrespect hits new low \u2014 and troops are finally revolting<\/a><\/p>\n

Columnist Jamelle Bouie said there was no shortage ofRepublican contenders who represent President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cfundamentalist\u201d brand of \u201cgrievance and disinterest in governing,\u201d but the one\u2019s who are rising in Trump\u2019s wake appear to be just as much of an uninspiring mess on the national level as Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could get Republicans who just cared about managing the government in a competent way, that would fill me with optimism,\u201d said Bouie, \u201cbut like, there\u2019s no indication that that\u2019s a priority for Republican voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

French said there are actually competent GOP personalities running things on the state level.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me stick up a little bit for some Republican voters here. I think, at the state level, you still will see something that our colleague Nick Kristof has written about multiple times, and rightfully so \u2014 the Mississippi miracle in reading, for example, has been a product of state-level Republican innovation. You know, Brian Kemp governs like a serious person. He has done a lot of things in Georgia that are serious governing things.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cthe national party is a joke at this point. I mean, it\u2019s absurd. It\u2019s like watching WrestleMania sometimes. It\u2019s just absurd,\u201d French continued. \u201cBut I will say, at state after state across the country, there are still serious people doing serious things, and I look forward to the day, hopefully, when those serious people, who have been doing serious things, actually become part of the national conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump is running on empty and headed for a mangle: report<\/a><\/p>\n

Cottle said the very nature of modern politics discourages serious people from even dipping a toe in the water, however, which leaves a swimming pool filled with clowns.<\/p>\n

\u201c[T]eam sports in politics in Washington has just made it such that it\u2019s not about governing or about competence so much. And I\u2019m always like, if you\u2019re a governor, you\u2019ve got a better story. You tend to have a better record of getting stuff done. You actually have to deliver for your constituents,\u201d Cottle said. \u201cBut that\u2019s on both teams, so you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Republican party\u2019s current stormy conditions, however, with terrible polls and mass voter animosity, Bouie strongly suggested serious candidates keep far away, at least for now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI agree with David that Brian Kemp is probably the single best in terms of \u2018can this guy win a general election\u2019 \u2014 like, unquestionably,\u201d said Bouie. \u201cIf I were Brian Kemp and I thought 2028 was going to look anything like this year, I\u2019d sit it out. Let Vance and Marco Rubio get the poison chalice and go down in fire, and then I come back in four years, as this emissary from the pre-Trump G.O.P.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Ex-White House staffer exposes the real scandal behind Trump\u2019s close aide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Times columnists Michelle Cottle, Jamelle Bouie and James French could not fathom why \u201cserious\u201d Republicans would involve themselves in national GOP races with the current administration in charge of the party.Columnist Jamelle Bouie said there was no shortage of Republican contenders who r…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Times columnists Michelle Cottle, Jamelle Bouie and James French could not fathom why \u201cserious\u201d Republicans would involve themselves in national GOP races with the current administration in charge of the party.Columnist Jamelle Bouie said there was no shortage of Republican contenders who r...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"‘Serious’ Republicans should flee Trump’s GOP clown show: analysis\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203\"},\"wordCount\":535,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203\",\"name\":\"'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=5203#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘Serious’ Republicans should flee Trump’s GOP clown show: analysis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next Address America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America","og_description":"New York Times columnists Michelle Cottle, Jamelle Bouie and James French could not fathom why \u201cserious\u201d Republicans would involve themselves in national GOP races with the current administration in charge of the party.Columnist Jamelle Bouie said there was no shortage of Republican contenders who r...","og_url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203","og_site_name":"Next Address America","article_published_time":"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"headline":"‘Serious’ Republicans should flee Trump’s GOP clown show: analysis","datePublished":"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203"},"wordCount":535,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203","name":"'Serious' Republicans should flee Trump's GOP clown show: analysis - Next Address America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-22T23:07:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0fe4245b94f10f5c372e1b1e07308a21.webp","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=5203#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘Serious’ Republicans should flee Trump’s GOP clown show: analysis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/","name":"Next Address America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}