I saw a tweet recently by a Republican operative who generally has been anti-Trump, but pro-GOP. He asked, “Which crime family am I going to vote for? Trump or Biden?” He acknowledged two things: Trump is going to be the Republican nominee and the GOP is going to run a campaign of false accusations and false equivalency to muddy the waters heading into 2024. 

Ever since rational Republicans have realized that Trump is, in fact, a crook, they’ve been looking for a way to rationalize voting for him or, at the very least, not voting for his opponent. Their best solution is to create a false narrative about Joe Biden. They’ve been investigating him since Republicans took control of the House but have failed to turn up much of anything. That hasn’t stopped loud accusations, even if they are mostly false. 

With the exception of MAGA, or, as Lincoln called them, the people you can fool all of the time, nobody really believes that Joe Biden is a crook. Americans don’t believe that he took bribes and no real evidence has come forth to prove that he has. Again, that doesn’t stop Fox News, Newsmax, and a host of right-wing web sites from making those accusations. 

Now, the anti-Trump, pro-GOP operatives are starting to spread the disinformation. They are using the term “Biden crime family” to describe the business dealings of the president’s son. In May, the GOP committee investigating the Biden family admitted that they have found no evidence that the president committed any crimes. They will continue to investigate, though, and the GOP will fall in line. 

The goal here is to muddy the water. Federal investigators have the goods on Donald Trump and they have an indictment to prove it. More indictments might be coming for his role in January 6 and for his attempt to commit election fraud in Georgia. However, right now, it appears nothing is going to derail his renomination. Republicans have created a base of gullible voters who believe the propaganda of the right-wing media and live in a world of alternative facts. They will vote for Trump no matter what he does, proving his claim that he “could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” And no Republicans would hold him accountable, either.

Anti-Trump Republicans who know he is guilty of at least some of his crimes want an excuse to either vote for him or sit out the election. They want the “Hillary excuse.” They are trying to convince themselves, or at least pretending to convince themselves, that Joe Biden is so corrupt that they can’t vote for him, either. That’s what they said about Hillary to justify not voting against Trump. They are not willing to protect the country from a corrupt authoritarian, but they aren’t willing to vote for one, either. I hope that makes them feel better.