‘Luke Skywalker Eventually Had to Confront Darth Vader’: GOP Strategist Compares Trump and Republican Candidates to Epic Star Wars Battle

Filling in for CNN’s Jake Tapper, Bianna Golodryga hosted a panel discussion on how the legal cases of former President Donald Trump are affecting his campaign. When the conversation turned to Trump’s GOP opponents in 2024, Republican strategist Doug Heye made a menacing pop culture comparison that put the likes of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former Vice President Mike Pence, and others in the middle of a battle to avoid the dark side.

First, Golodryga read an excerpt of the New York Times op-ed written by Rich Lowry, the editor-in-chief of the National Review, in which he states:

[M]any Republicans who oppose [Trump] have dreaded the indictments as sure to bolster him. And so it has proved a figure like Mr. Trump, a colorful populist adored by a political base that loves him in part because he is so embattled, is unlikely to be taken down by the very authorities he says are corrupt and arrayed against him.

So, it’s fair to say that there are some Republicans out there whose lack of faith in Trump might be considered disturbing. Heye was asked for his response, noting that he disagrees with the argument of a “two-tier system of justice” and sees a moment of truth for Trump’s opponents:

[S]ome of this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. It shores up Donald Trump because his opponents shore up Donald Trump. His opponents have echoed that it’s a two tiered system of justice, that this is a sign that it’s rigged. And ultimately, what we see, Bianna, is in Star Wars, we learn that Luke Skywalker eventually had to confront Darth Vader. He couldn’t sit back and just wait for the Force or Han Solo to take care of it for him. So Ron DeSantis, a Tim Scott, a Mike Pence, if they want to win the nomination, goes through Donald Trump and you have to confront him. You can’t hope that somebody else will do it for you. Hope is never a political strategy.

Watch the video above via CNN.

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