The GOP's Casablanca moment

Republican leaders gambled on Donald Trump. And now, after the emergence of a tape in which Trump bragged that he could get away with grabbing women by their genitalia, many of those who had at least publicly backed the GOP presidential nominee rescinded their support as they sought to distance themselves from the scandal.

This is the GOP's Captain Louis Renault moment.

Widely (and rightly) hailed as the greatest film of all time, Casablanca has provided us numerous cultural touchstones — but one particular scene has a lasting value in politics that may surpass the others. After a display of French patriotism, the corrupt commander of the local French police attempts to appease his German superiors by shutting down the Café Americain. Captain Louis Renault orders the bar closed, telling Rick that he's "shocked, shocked to find gambling in here!" Renault then accepts his winnings from the tables while shouting, "Everyone out at once!"

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Republicans are similarly shocked by Trump's disgusting comments. Shocked.

We all — all of us — have always known who Donald Trump is. But GOP leaders fell in line behind him because they had little choice if they wanted to keep Hillary Clinton from winning the election. Had they pulled off some parliamentary magic to replace Trump on the ballot at the convention, a large percentage of their voters — who, let's remember, picked Trump by a landslide in the primaries — would have walked. And it's not clear whether a controversial figure like Ted Cruz could have wooed them back, nor another member of the Bush dynasty either.

Since then, most Republican officials — including at least a few of those now repudiating the nominee — have argued for Trump on purely practical grounds. They didn't care for Trump's behavior and his tendency toward vulgar commentary, of which plenty of examples had emerged already. But the election was a binary choice. Clinton would be worse for the country, especially when it comes to the Supreme Court and corruption in office, so Trump's vulgarities of the past didn't really matter.

Now suddenly they do.

What Republican lawmakers have yet to explain is why this latest scandal surpasses the vote-Trump arguments they have offered before, even when we had countless examples of Trump's misogyny. Trump attacked Megyn Kelly and fellow Republican Carly Fiorina in crass terms over a year ago, and more examples have emerged at regular intervals since.

That isn't to argue that the Access Hollywood comments themselves aren't despicable and an insight into the vulgar, entitled persona of Trump. Clearly they are both. But just as clearly, those qualities have been on full display with Trump not just throughout the entirety of his presidential run, but throughout his entire public life. They existed long before the same Republicans running for the exits offered their endorsements, and long before their repudiations, too. Trying to engage in belated virtue-signaling at this point is like Renault closing the casino while also trying to cash out his winnings.

Newt Gingrich's advice to Republicans hits the nail on the head, even though it has more than a whiff of self-serving quality to it. "You don't have to run around and defend Donald Trump. That's his job," Gingrich said in a Facebook Live video. "You also don't have to abandon him. There is no alternative at a practical level. He is the nominee."

Indeed he is, and it's far too late for Republicans to repudiate Trump now, at least with any credibility. The best argument for Trump is that he's the only path left to block a return to power for the corrupt Clinton clan. That may not be a winning argument, but it's the most intellectually honest one left for Republicans. That won't be the start of a beautiful friendship between Trump and the GOP's leadership, but that will likely matter a lot less as time goes by.