Effort To Primary Trump in 2020: What’s The Family Got To Do With It?

Americans are rightly going apoplectic over President Donald Trump dubbing himself the chosen one. Not-so-secret (anymore) conservative religious group, the Family or the Fellowship in Washington, D.C. has regarded members as chosen political disciples since Eisenhower’s administration.

Glaring lights of a documentarian’s camera, apparently, won’t send them scurrying like roaches. Mark Sanford, a former South Carolina governor and U.S. Congressman, seems to be preparing for a 2020 presidential primary run.

Beating Trump in 2020 was once a pipe dream. Now, there are multiple attempts to primary him. Former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, R-IL, and former Gov. William Weld, R-PA are in the mix. Inexplicably, Sanford’s name was the first to be thrown around. Why?

Sanford became infamous after disappearing on a trek through the Appalachian Mountains. But re-emerged like Punxsutawney Phil at a press conference to reveal he’d fled to Venezuela to be with his mistress. Sanford also made a stunning admission — stunning only to fellow Family members.

His mention of the Family was the first public confirmation of its existence. Pulling back the curtain was seen as a cardinal sin, then. Has that sin been forgiven or does the Family believe it’s the perfect time to draft Sanford? Obviously, the Family hasn’t uttered a peep.

Activities leading up to Sanford’s Aug. 31 decision include attending a barbeque with Vice President Mike Pence and other conservatives. Given Trump’s obsession with loyalty, one wonders why Pence would be fraternizing with this new Trump enemy.

Has the Republican Party’s strangely quiet rabidly Right-wing left it to Doug Coe’s descendants to clean up its mess? Yes, it does sound like a conspiracy theory. The Trump administration, frankly, has nearly desensitized us to conspiracy theories. They have been his bread and butter.

But the Family has been entrenched in high-stakes politics everybody liked Ike. It’s well known that Uganda’s 2014 kill the gays bill was born in the Family’s C Street residence — a Capitol Hill frat house of faith, if you will. It’s got quite roster from which to recruit.

Is the conspiracy theory really that much of a stretch?

· The Family has been operating relatively secretly since the Eisenhower administration. Only Sanford, author Jeff Sharlet, and dogged reporting about the Kill The Gays bill really put them on the map.

· Despite breaking the cardinal secrecy rule, Sanford was still the first to be announced as a potential 2020 GOP Presidential Primary challenger.

· Sanford is well-equipped — with the Family’s assistance — to continue carrying out the theocratic agenda so prized by some Republicans.