Mr. Trump has a large following that is not likely to desert him before 2024. The saner Republican people in the back room would prefer to keep this group as "hard support" for the Republican Party. To antagonize this group by denouncing recent Trump actions could mean this group moves from "hard support" to "soft support." It's more difficult to get soft support to cast a vote, giving the D's an easy victory in 2024.

So the saner Republican back room players are hoping for a "fair" primary will keep the Trump base fairly intact. It will still soften if DeSantis wins, but not as much as if the Republican establishment denounces Mr. Trump.

We need a political system where we are not playing these silly games to acquire power--and keep political analysts employed.