evidence: Despite the evidence that Trump was ready to destroy American democracy to stay in power, his rivals for the Republican nomination have largely only attacked him obliquely for causing the most traumatic election in modern American history in 2020. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, for instance, said last month that she disagreed with Trump’s recent remark that his political opponents were "vermin" — another comment that drew analogies with Nazi rhetoric. "It’s the chaos of it all, right? I think he means well. But the chaos has got to stop," she told voters in Iowa. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has largely faulted Trump for not living up to his promises to the Make America Great Again movement in his first term and has claimed he’d be a better implementor of such policies. In a CNN town hall this month, DeSantis did step up his attacks on the ex-president — but mostly over policy on abortion, immigration and the economy.