Yesterday, we excerpted a column in which political analyst Kurt Schlichter laid out the case for Donald Trump 2024. Today, we do so for his column arguing against Trump in order for you, dear reader/voter, to decide.

In GOP circles, a growing contingent of America First Republicans hope that Donald J. Trump chooses not to run again (I give him a 50/50 chance of throwing his red hat in the ring based upon what I know). The libs want him to, certainly. They think beating him will kill off the conservative-populist revolt. But what the libs do not get — because they do not want to get it — is that Trump is not our movement but, rather, the avatar of it. It is separate from him and will exist long after he retires to Mar-a-Lago for good. But why do a large number of hardcore cons feel it’s time for him to retire?

Schlichter gets to the list of reasons against Trump:

The first problem for Trump is that the enemy hates him. It hates him with the burning heat of a million chafing thighs of Brian Stelter, who is a potato. There is a ceiling to Trump’s support, and even some nominal Republicans will never vote for him just because he is Trump. Some people just find him and his quirks exhausting; maybe they will learn from their botched 2020 vote for a return to “normality,” but maybe they won’t.

It’s the hatred we need to consider because it motivates otherwise demoralized Dems. Remember, our enemies will do whatever they have to do to stop him, legal or not, just as we saw last time. They will raise a billion dollars or more from the sexually-unsatisfied wine women of the suburbs and the evil billionaires of Silicon Valley. Their functionaries will indict him and his family for bogus “crimes” that are not crimes, but they do not care — not at all. The tech fascists will try to silence him to the extent they can. Every network but Fox, Newsmax, and OANN will hate on him 24/7. They will cheat where they can. They will lie shamelessly. And judging from the Dems’ collective shrug over the attempt to murder Justice Kavanaugh and the manifesto of the pro-abort terrorists of Jane’s Revenge, they may even use violence.

Remember, every norm, rule, and law has a Trump Exception™ that excuses whatever the enemy does to stop him.

The Left hates the Right. What else is new? As Schlichter acknowledges, “they will do the same thing to any Republican who wins the nomination.”

Focus and discipline are not exactly Trump’s strong suits. We need to be honest — the guy is human chaos. Sometimes that’s great; other times, it is basically him stamping on his own Schumer. In many ways — and this comes from a fan — he is his own worst enemy, and nothing seems to have changed since he left office.

“A prime example of his indiscipline,” Schlichter says, “is his inability to stop harping on the 2020 election.” Yes, there were problems. Yes, there was fraud. “But this constant bitching and moaning about 2020 is about as effective as the J6 kangaroo committee as far as moving voters – in fact, it’s annoying because, in a time of $7 gas and our 401(k) dropping lower than Robert Reich on his tip-toes, no one wants to hear it. But that’s all Trump talks about.”

In fact, “there’s no indication so far that Trump does not want to make this all about his vindication rather than fulfilling the promise of 2016.”

I saw Trump in February up close. He looks great — slimmer, energetic, coherent, a true contrast to that ancient dementite currently wiping out when he hops on his ten-speed. But he’s still old — he would be 78 on Election Day, and that is pretty damn ancient. Plus, if Trump started showing the slightest signs of decline, the regime media would certainly not hide it like it is trying to do for the mush-slurping Matlock superfan.

He concludes with perhaps his biggest reason: “We have viable alternatives.”

It is not either Trump or some $5,000 suit full of rancid Miracle Whip like Mitt. Obviously, Ron DeSantis is great — he clearly knows what time it is, and he does not get embroiled in personal squabbles… Tom Cotton, Ted Cruz, Mike Pompeo are all out there and would do well if elected.

Ultimately, “This is not about Trump,” Schlichter notes. “This is about winning.”

Astoundingly, Schlichter doesn’t even really mention January 6 — and especially not Trump’s truly atrocious and contemptible behavior on and around that day. Others persuasively argue that such behavior is disqualifying. Conservatives can’t be expected to be taken seriously if their best answer for J6 is to pretend it never happened, or to imply by omission that Trump 2024 won’t have to reckon with it in some way.

Read the whole thing here.