According to a recent CBS News poll, eighty-three per cent of Americans disapprove of the actions of the Trump supporters who forced their way into the Capitol, and fifty-four per cent think it was an insurrection. In defeating McAuliffe in November, Glenn Youngkin, a leveraged-buyout tycoon who hails from the traditional Wall Street wing of the G.O.P., successfully avoided being dragged into the January 6th morass. He accepted Trump’s endorsement but didn’t invite the former President to campaign for him. Youngkin called for an audit of Virginia’s voting machines, but, finally, after repeatedly ducking the issue, said that he would have voted to certify the 2020 election result. He kept Trump at arm’s length without alienating him or his supporters.

With Trump back on the national stage railing about a stolen election, this straddle will be increasingly difficult for any Republican candidate to maintain. Constitutionally incapable of admitting defeat, he is clearly intent on making fealty to his Big Lie a litmus test, and any Republican who questions any part of it risks incurring his wrath. Last week, he even attacked Lindsey Graham, his longtime toady and golfing partner. After Graham said he didn’t favor issuing pardons to the January 6th participants who were being prosecuted, Trump called him a “rino,” adding, “Lindsey Graham doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about if he says that.”