March 13, 2024 10:17 AM UTC

The Donald Trump/Dave Williams Unholy Alliance Has Arrived

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• by: Colorado Pols

As Ernest Luning reports for the Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog, yesterday afternoon ex-President Donald Trump repaid with interest–in political capital, not dollars of course–the support of a man his campaign once fired for incompetence, Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams, with an endorsement in the CO-05 primary for Williams returning the favor after the Colorado Republican Party’s own pre-Super Tuesday endorsement of Trump:

“Dave helped us deliver a 30-point Blowout Victory on Super Tuesday, and he will help us WIN Colorado this November,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “In Congress, Dave will work hard to Secure the Border, Fight for Election Integrity, Support our Military/Vets, and Protect and Defend our under siege Second Amendment. Dave Williams has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

…In the same post, Trump got in a dig at primary candidate Jeff Crank without naming the Republican, who had earlier in the day won an endorsement from House Speaker Mike Johnson.

“His opponent is Endorsed, and works closely with, Americans for Chinese Prosperity, a Charles Koch Disaster,” Trump posted, referring to Americans for Prosperity Action, the political arm of the Koch network’s Americans for Prosperity, which endorsed Crank in February.

Trump’s endorsement of Williams and harsh repudiation of conservative group Americans For Prosperity are meant to silence the growing intraparty criticism of Williams, after Williams used state party resources to attack his CO-05 primary opponent Jeff Crank (and the now-vanquished Nikki Haley)–first via party statements and email blasts and then via a costly color mail piece extending the attacks to include Republican megadonor Phil Anschutz and his wholly-owned Colorado Springs Gazette. The broadsides against Americans For Prosperity, while helpful to Williams, are a major problem for Republicans in the state’s most competitive congressional race, CO-08, where presumed Republican nominee Gabe-ish Evans is also running with AFP’s support. That means everything Williams and Trump are saying about Crank and AFP applies equally to Evans and AFP, in a race where Republicans are trying to pick up a seat instead of a succession squabble in a safe Republican district.

It’s also significant that Trump weighed in on the same day that House Speaker Mike Johnson announced his endorsement of Jeff Crank, the first instance we’re aware of in which these two national Republican leaders have endorsed opposing candidates in a primary. Johnson’s endorsement of Crank is an indicator that he is aware of Williams’ disruptive antics in the legislature followed by his shameless misuse of his position as party chairman to promote his own political advancement, and Johnson doesn’t want that in his caucus.

For Trump, Williams’ canine devotion and willingness to subvert the rules to assure Trump had no repeat this year of the disastrous 2016 “Never Trump” state assembly is all that matters. Trump is perfectly content to overlook Williams’ abuse of his authority as party chairman to gain an advantage in the CO-05 primary, since it was all done under the pretext of supporting Trump. As a result, Williams’ shameless power play which has been scorned by so many of his fellow Colorado Republicans stands on the brink of success.

Think about what it will mean for the future of the Colorado GOP if Williams’ self-interested scheming is rewarded with a seat in Congress. It will forever change the relationship between the party and the candidates they are supposed to fairly select and then unreservedly support in the general election. Just like the national Republican Party has become the personal vehicle to power for Trump, Williams is turning the job of Colorado GOP chairman into its own vehicle for personal political ambition. It is outrageously corrupt, but in the era of Trump it is also the new normal.

Williams’ Machiavellian plan is coming together right out in the open. He’s laughing at his detractors. And if Williams succeeds, the debasement that will follow is…inestimable.