How rotten is the Trumpist movement?

Consider this Twitter thread from David French and its tale of abuse at the hands of Trumpism:

See new Tweets

Conversation

David French

@DavidAFrench

I hate to have to revisit this, but here we go.

A person who traffics in vicious and evil lies is using my name and 

@NancyAFrench

's name to sell her new book.

This person is 

@julie_kelly2

 she writes for 

@theamgreatness

. How vicious are the lies? How evil? Pull up a chair. /1

David French

@DavidAFrench

My wife is a victim of a pedophile. A pastor sexually assaulted her when she was 12. She has discussed this incident a few times in the context of dealing with the pain of the GOP (her lifelong party) supporting men like Trump and Roy Moore. 

David French

@DavidAFrench

When Nancy wrote that if Brett Kavanaugh was guilty of Christine Blasey Ford's charges, then he shouldn't sit on the court (a position I firmly agreed with). Then 

@julie_kelly2

 tweeted this: /3

 

David French

@DavidAFrench

Not only is this vicious and cruel, it's a lie. It's libel. When I first confronted 

@julie_kelly2

 about this falsehood, she doubled down, and then launched another attack on my family: /4

David French

@DavidAFrench

She is referring to my family's ordeal during the 2016 election season, when the alt-right launched a wave of hate against my adopted youngest daughter, a beautiful girl from Ethiopia. I suppose I was supposed to keep my mouth shut and not expose Trump's racist fans. /5 

French confronted American Greatness editor Chris Buskirk about Kelly's conduct. They got into it at the Aspen Ideas event. Buskirk's next move was to publish a poem called "Cuck Elegy," making fun of conservatives such as French who refuse to drink the Trumpist Kool-Aid.

Kelly is now promoting a book. Here's where it all gets really dismaying. Some once-towering conservatives figures worthy of admiration have opted to guzzle that Kool-Aid:

David French

@DavidAFrench

Why bring this up? Folks you might know, like

@MZHemingway

,

@DennisPrager

, and a former NR colleague

@VDHanson

are helping her hawk her book. They may not have known before, but they're promoting a person who libeled a pedophile victim, my wife. Now they know. /end.

Kelly has made hay on Twitter over the fact that her book is coming out the same day as the latest from "unflinching warrior" Kurt Schlichter, another vile Trumpist who has publicly abused French.  She even plays the victim card, saying Schlichter "came to [her] defense when David French and his wife unleashed the Twitter mob on me."

And now I see that Katie Pavlich has congratulated Schlichter on the release of his book.

The damage Trumpism has done to conservatism is incalculable. Formerly principled and distinguished thinkers have given up their souls for it.

Let's not mince words here: Trumpsim is evil.