Trump tried to destroy these Republicans. Now they support him.

In doing so, Mr. Trump has made some very personal bones and won support from several prominent Republican holdouts who have sought to end his career.

At the top of that list is Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who confirmed he supports Trump this week as the state’s primary elections take place.

Kemp has refused to go along with Trump’s plan to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results and has at times criticized Trump’s claims that Georgia was “stolen.” President Trump has recruited former Sen. David Perdue to challenge Kemp in the 2022 primary, calling him a “traitor, a coward, and a complete and utter disaster.”

Georgia’s 2022 results were a unique setback for President Trump’s efforts to punish Republicans who opposed his plan. Mr. Kemp defeated Mr. Perdue 74% to 22%, and other statewide incumbents, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also defeated Mr. Trump-backed challengers.

Kemp’s support for Trump is by no means all-inclusive. He said only that Trump is “better than Joe Biden.” But this is in sharp contrast to Trump, who once thought Kemp’s Democratic gubernatorial challenger, Stacey Abrams, “might be better” than Kemp. be.

(Mr. Trump ultimately announced a mild endorsement of Mr. Kemp on the eve of the 2022 general election, when Mr. Kemp was leading in all polls.)

Another big recent example is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

McConnell has strongly criticized Trump’s actions over the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, calling them a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and has at times broken with Trump. But Mr. Trump went further, attacking Mr. McConnell’s wife with racist language and writing that suggested Mr. McConnell had a “death wish.” He called McConnell a “sullen, grumpy, unsmiling political hack” and even attacked him after he stiffened during a news conference last year.

President Trump reportedly endorsed Sen. Rick Scott of Florida to challenge McConnell for Senate Republican leadership in 2022, but Scott lost the race. But when Mr. McConnell finally announced his retirement two weeks ago, he gave a nod to how politics within the party had changed. This clearly shows how Trumpism has overtaken him.

Mr. Trump’s feud is less pronounced with Mr. McConnell’s No. 2, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), who also recently endorsed Mr. Trump. But all the elements are there.

Thune linked President Trump’s comments to the Jan. 6 riot, saying, “President Trump’s efforts to undermine confidence in our election system and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power are intolerable.” .

Trump also labeled the senator a “Republican in name only,” declared Thune’s “career in politics is over,” and called for a primary challenger to the senator. He reportedly tried to recruit South Dakota Governor Kristi L. Noem. Mr. Thune once considered retiring, partly due to the influence of President Trump. (Mr. Thune ran again, but no viable primary challenger emerged, and Mr. Thune is currently vying to succeed Mr. McConnell as the top Republican in the Senate.)

The final example we look at is New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who endorsed Trump last week.

Sununu has a more concerted track record of criticizing Trump than most. And in fact, he supported Nikki Haley, President Trump’s main opponent.

But most of Sununu’s criticisms were pragmatic, aimed at pushing Republicans in a different direction in the name of victory. Meanwhile, President Trump has suggested that Sununu is corrupt and questioned his “guts” after Sununu declined to run for the Senate. A senior Trump adviser in 2022 said the president had directed him to find a primary challenger for Sununu. (Sununu ran in 2022 and easily won reelection. He ultimately declined to seek reelection in 2024.)

Which side Republicans choose in the primaries is another matter. It is quite another thing for Republicans to pursue challenges to incumbents in primaries and leadership races, something that has long been largely prohibited in the two major parties. Reason: It encourages unnecessary infighting.

The four names listed above are essentially profiles of prominent Republicans who subtly moved the party away from Trumpism without sacrificing their own careers. While others who criticized Trump (such as Liz Cheney) became pariahs in the Republican Party, these four Republicans remained politically viable. All but McConnell are extremely popular in their home countries.

But even they seem to have to support Trump.This man may have incited a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol and undermined American democracy, and he may have tried to eliminate them, but at least he didn’t. democrat.

And the message to anyone trying to move the Republican Party away from Trump is that you can try, but you’ll probably just have your words and your pride eaten away.