Why Republicans Debase Themselves for Trump

Why do so many rich, successful people degrade themselves to lick Trump's boots, even when he routinely humiliates them?

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The Debasement

In 2016, Donald Trump sent out a tweet to millions of people implying that Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, was hideously ugly. He threatened to “spill the beans” about Heidi, whatever that means. But Trump wasn’t satisfied to just attack Cruz’s wife. He called Cruz “Lyin’ Ted,” and falsely suggested that he was covering up for the fact that Cruz’s father, according to his latest lunatic conspiracy theory, had been involved in the plot to assassinate JFK.

Cruz understandably denounced Trump, saying “Donald, you’re a sniveling coward—and leave Heidi the hell alone.” In the campaign, Cruz called Trump “utterly amoral,” correctly highlighted that he was a “serial philanderer,” and said Trump was “a narcissist at a level I don’t think this country’s ever seen.” He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near power, Cruz insisted, because Trump was a “pathological liar.”

A few months later, Ted Cruz voted for Donald Trump.

Since then, Cruz has become a political remora—happy to live off Trump’s political detritus, hoping to feed off the scraps of his popularity. When Trump came to campaign in Texas, Cruz said he was “honored” to have Trump’s support. After the 2020 election, Cruz was closely involved with the plot to overturn the election, trying to keep Trump in power despite having lost the election. Recently, in an interview on Fox News, Cruz said: “I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States…I look forward to supporting him enthusiastically.”

Cruz is emblematic of a trend throughout the Republican party of being humiliated by Trump in the most personal, visceral ways, followed by the inevitable utter debasement, as they seek to lick the boots of the man who just stomped on what was left of their dignity and self-respect.

The pattern is familiar to most prominent Republicans. Trump ridiculed Marco Rubio for his height, calling him “Liddle Marco.” He insulted Rubio for his profuse sweating (“I have never seen a human being sweat like this man sweats…It looked like he had just jumped into a swimming pool with his clothes on”). He attacked Rubio for his ears (“He has really large ears, the biggest ears I’ve ever seen.”).

In response, Rubio called Trump an “embarrassment,” a “con man,” who was “unfit” for the presidency. He compared him to a “third world strongman” and said that, for years to come, people will have to “explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump.”

A few months later, Rubio fell into that exact trap. He endorsed Trump, then voted for him, and still enthusiastically supports him, routinely beclowning himself on national TV to defend the indefensible.

Here’s the puzzle: why do they do it?

There are very few people who would respond to personal attacks about their families by enthusiastically and publicly degrading themselves by praising their vicious bully on national TV, let alone endorsing him to run the most powerful country in the world.

But if you were going to imagine who would debase themselves for personal gain, you would presume that the people most prone to it would be those who are poor, vulnerable, desperate—people with no other choice. Lowly employees might feel compelled to lick the boots of a tyrannical CEO to pay rent.

But that’s not what’s happening here. These political cowards are rich, successful, and powerful. And still, they all seem to love the taste of Trump’s boots.

What’s going on?