George Santos is a self-admitted liar. The resume he used to get elected was completely fabricated. Now, he has been indicted. He is an embarrassment to Republican Party, which wants to see the back of him as soon as possible. But everything I’ve said about him in this post is also true of Trump, who remains the frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination. Why are these apparently similar men being treated so differently by GOP voters?
The average reactionary voter sees Trump as the indispensable man: the only person, in spite of his innumerable personality flaws, who is tough, smart, and aggressive enough to save them from cultural annihilation at the hands of the libs. His lies and outrages are, in their eyes, proof that he is firmly on their side, and won’t be flipped by the establishment. Santos, on the other hand, is just a guy. He is consequently judged by the standards that bind all of the rest of us.