Bruce Bartlett isn't your run-of-the-mill Donald Trump backer.
Bartlett, a former official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, supports Trump's presidential bid, but not because he thinks Trump will Make America Great Again. Instead, he sees Trump as "the surest path to complete and total destruction of the Republican Party as we know it."
Bartlett identifies as a conservative, but is a harsh critic of the modern GOP, which he says panders to "morons and bigots and racists." Bartlett predicts that Trump will get trounced in the general election, burning down the rotting structure of the Republican Party in the process and eventually presenting an opportunity for sane conservatives to clear the ashes and start over again. Bartlett lays out his full rationale for supporting Trump in a piece for Politico.
Ever since GOP primary voters granted Bartlett his wish of a Trump nomination, the conservative apostate has gleefully tweeted a never-ending stream of criticism towards Republican Party loyalists — or he likes to call them, "wankers." Here's a look at what he's been saying:
Bartlett responded to rumors of a Gingrich-Trump ticket with a dig at another of his favorite targets, the George W. Bush administration.
Bartlett even offered some faint praise for Trump in comparison to conservative hardliners:
Bartlett is supremely confident that Trump has no chance in the general election. His counterintuitive plan for reform depends on his prediction of a GOP loss coming true:
