Chris Hayes to GOP: 'You Cannot Defeat Donald Trump by Running to His Right'

MSNBC's Chris Hayes advises Republicans not to run to the right of Donald Trump in the 2024 election, as it failed in 2016.

In a recent segment on MSNBC's "All In," Chris Hayes delivered a crucial message to Republicans vying against Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Drawing from the lessons learned in the 2016 election cycle, Hayes emphasized that running to Trump's right and attempting to convince the base that he is not a true conservative will not lead to success.

To support his point, Hayes played a series of clips featuring 2016 candidates who tried to outdo Trump on the conservative front but ultimately failed. Among them were Rick Perry, who referred to Trump's candidacy as a "cancer on conservatism," and Jeb Bush, who challenged the crowd to prove Trump's conservative credentials.

The compilation concluded with a reminder from Senator Lindsay Graham, who expressed doubt about Trump's reliability as a conservative Republican and questioned the feasibility of finding a conservative agenda with him. Hayes remarked that none of these attempts to distance Trump from conservatism resonated with the base. In fact, he argued that they may have even bolstered Trump's support.

Hayes further highlighted that despite Trump's endorsement of hard-right conservative policies, voters perceived him as more moderate than his rival Hillary Clinton on several issues. This observation underscores the disconnect between the Republican base's perception of Trump and his actual policy positions.

In a somewhat incredulous tone, Hayes pointed out that Republicans in the current field are repeating the same unsuccessful strategy of trying to stop Trump. He played clips of Mike Pence, Tim Scott, and Ron DeSantis, all of whom have recently positioned themselves as more conservative than Trump.

Drawing from historical evidence, Hayes suggested that these candidates are likely to face the same fate as their predecessors. They will fail to sway Trump's core base, which has been fiercely loyal to him throughout his presidency. This raises the question of whether Trump's base truly cares about anything beyond his reelection. In fact, on "Morning Joe," the topic of Trump's base being akin to a cult was debated, with Joe Scarborough noting that a significant portion of Trump's followers blindly follow him more than their own religious leaders.

In conclusion, Hayes's message to Republicans running against Trump in 2024 is clear: attempting to out-conservative Trump will not yield success. The base's unwavering support for Trump and their perception of him as a moderate on certain issues make it unlikely that these candidates will be able to sway his core supporters.