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Vowing to “root out” and crush political critics, likening them to “vermin” and calling yourself a “proud election denier” is the kind of 

dehumanizing language usually reserved for dictators

That’s exactly what former President Donald Trump did over the weekend, but you likely won’t hear anything about it from Trump’s rivals. 

Not even the top two who want to dethrone him and whom Trump has given diminutive nicknames — Ron “DeSanctimonious”/”DeSanctus” a.k.a. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, or “Birdbrain.” The latter is a fairly new one Trump is using for his former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley since her rise in the polls in recent weeks.

The Republican presidential candidates don’t strongly take on Trump about the 91 felony counts he faces for fear of awakening the hornet’s nest of vindictiveness that the Trump base can unleash. That leaves Trump free to say and do what he wants — no matter how extreme.

The GOP field is dwindling: South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott bowed out this week following Pence’s exit a week earlier. The next Republican debate stage, in less than a month in Alabama, will likely be even smaller.

While that may help the DeSantis and Haley stand out, the clock is ticking for them to start really making up ground. 

That’s because Trump has a pretty big cushion. He has not just a 

 in national polling for the GOP nomination, but he’s ahead by almost 

As a result, Trump is largely focusing on his legal troubles, and attempting to turn that in his favor. He wants the federal trial he faces to be on camera, something federal prosecutors are very much against, fearing that Trump could turn the trials into a “

try his case in the courtroom of public opinion

 and turn his trial into a media event.”

Trump hasn’t made any bones about the fact that he wants to do exactly that. He wants to stay in the limelight and play the victim, as he has since he got on the national political stage. 

And he’s doing that without much criticism from his rivals,

who are busy targeting each other — and running out of time.

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis’ campaign teams said they each 

Democrats are defending eight Senate seats now that are either toss-ups, leaning in a direction, or — in the case of Sen. Joe Manchin’s West Virginia seat — already solidly in the Republican column, according to the Cook Political Report. 

On the other hand, there are zero Republican seats (yes, zero) in the toss-up or lean columns. In all, Democrats are defending 23 seats, compared to 11 for Republicans, highlighting how hard it will be for Democrats to retain control of  the Senate, especially with Manchin's retirement and their current one-seat majority.

 through Iowa and New Hampshire, despite not even qualifying for the third GOP presidential debate (he likely won’t make the cut for the upcoming fourth, either). 

In another attempt to channel his governorship into his presidential run, DeSantis 

signed legislation to sanction Iran and protect Jewish institutions

 in December, which her team says is more than five times greater than DeSantis’ ad reserves for that same time frame.

from suburban Ohio to Iowa and New Hampshire. He’s also out with a 

 criticizing DeSantis and Haley as war mongers, intersplicing images of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney with his rivals.

: CNBC reports that Democratic financial donors who once supported Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips’ primary bid 

, demanding that he return their donations or make sure the money won’t go toward campaign funds. It’s a sign of a growing anger in the party establishment over Phillips’ campaign, which could threaten

. At a UAW event last week, Biden touted himself as a stronger supporter for manufacturing jobs than Trump. Then, at a reception in Chicago, he

told guests that Democrats won the Nov. 7 election because “the Biden-Harris agenda has taken hold.”

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Domenico Montanaro

Author

Tim Scott and Mike Pence have dropped their bids for president, and the next GOP debate in less than a month will likely feature an even smaller stage, but Trump is still the far-and-away frontrunner.

The Republican field is getting smaller. Here's what that means for beating Trump

Go Deeper.

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