Many Republican lawmakers think Donald Trump is going to lose hard. They also think they have to support him anyway.
You might think that's backwards. But there's a very good explanation: Dolchstoßlegende. Translated, the word means "stabbed-in-the-back narrative." It refers to a myth that circulated in 1920s Germany suggesting that Germany would have won World War I militarily, but it was sold out by its politicians.
How does this apply in the context of the 2016 election? While Trump is an unpopular politician, he has a base of adoring fans. Maybe after 2016 his fans will just melt away into the shadows once their orange sun-god has been eclipsed. Or maybe they will solidify into a movement, one that can keep wreaking havoc on the Republican Party — further tarnishing its brand, destroying candidates, and alienating voters for many years to come. And what better weapon to do that with than a "stabbed-in-the-back narrative" that claims Trump's loss is the result of the back-stabbing Republican machine that refused to give him its support?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
The stabbed-in-the-back narrative has become a bit of a meme in Republican circles, as anti-Trump conservative pundit Ben Shapiro notes. And it seems to help explain why figures like Reince Priebus or Paul Ryan, who privately loathe Trump, still support him publicly.
But establishment Republicans who dislike Trump don't need to pretend anymore.
People will push a stabbed-in-the-back narrative whatever happens. They're already doing this. Sean Hannity has already said he wants to hold establishment Republicans "accountable" (whatever that means) if Trump loses. People like Hannity have a professional interest in pushing this narrative. Trump true-believers will believe nothing else. And everyone always like to blame others for their own failures anyway.
The stabbed-in-the-back narrative will be employed no matter what. And if something is going to happen no matter what, there's no use expending energy trying to avoid it.
On top of that, the stabbed-in-the-back narrative won't actually convince most people. Nobody except the hardcore true Trump believers, who are only a modest-sized faction of the GOP, will believe it. Why? Because it's becoming painfully obvious that the one and only person responsible for Donald Trump's defeat is Donald Trump himself.
When Trump began attacking Ghazala Khan, the Gold Star mother who stood by as her husband spoke at the Democratic convention, a sort of switch flipped in the minds of many people who began seeing what had been obvious from the start: Donald Trump cannot control himself. He is so petulant that he must lash out at any threat, perceived or real, without any concept of political cost. There will be no "pivot." Trump will keep running as a European-style far-right nationalist, even though that's political suicide. Maybe it reflects his true beliefs, or maybe he doesn't want to be president and is sabotaging himself. Who knows. He can't help himself.
Regardless, there simply can be no doubt for any sentient person that Trump's campaign is imploding. Rush Limbaugh's listeners are known as "dittoheads" because they nod along to what Rush says, and it's easy for media elite professionals to think that talk radio listeners and "low-information voters" (which are not the same thing) are simply empty vessels for the views that are being poured into them. Hannity, who once was a strong believer in immigration amnesty, reflects the views of his audience, he doesn't shape them. Even "low-information voters" realize that attacking a Gold Star mother for literally not saying anything is not a smart political move. And Trump has done so, so many foolish things.
This is what it boils down to. The fear of the "stabbed-in-the-back narrative" is very strong among establishment Republicans. And yet, there's no reason to fear it. So Republicans should, well, er, stab Trump in the back (even as he stabs himself repeatedly in the front).
