‘United’ RNC trots out Haley, DeSantis – who Trump brutally insulted

On Tuesday, Republican National Convention organizers took some time away from their broader message – “Please elect this convicted felon who’s promising to round up millions of immigrants and put them in camps” – to give stage time to GOP figures who’ve been brutally disgraced by Donald Trump, the aforementioned felon.
For example, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley abandoned all morals and principles she proudly campaigned on and backed Trump in exchange for a chance to speak at the convention and get lustily booed by people who hate her. Well done!
While the theme of the day in Milwaukee was “Make America Safe Once Again,” ironic given that crime in America is down considerably, the theme of the evening slate of speakers should have been “The GOP Parade of Subjugation.”
The key speakers were, according to nicknames Trump had previously assigned them: Lyin’ Ted, Birdbrain, Ron DeSanctimonious and Little Marco. (Sen. Ted Cruz, Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Marco Rubio.)
It was a veritable “Who’s Who?” of “Who Has Trump Humiliated?” 
First up, was Lyin’ Ted, who apparently forgot Trump once suggested Cruz’s wife is ugly and suggested Cruz’s father helped the assassin who killed President John F. Kennedy.
How did Cruz open his RNC speech? With this: “God bless Donald J. Trump!”
With that exclamation, the word “honor” suddenly disappeared from all U.S. dictionaries.
Up next was Birdbrain. Trump gave Haley that certainly-not-sexist nickname during the primaries. He also repeatedly and quite intentionally misspelled her birth name – Nimarata – as “Nimbra” and “Nimrada,” while also questioning her eligibility for the presidency in his tried-and-true racist fashion. (Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants and was born in South Carolina.)
“Nimbra doesn’t have what it takes,” Trump wrote on social media. 
Also during the primary, Trump mocked Haley’s husband’s absence from the campaign trail, saying: “What happened to her husband? Where is he? He’s gone.” Michael Haley is in the National Guard and was on deployment at the time. 
Haley – who, again, was onstage Tuesday night to show support for Trump – at the time called Trump’s comments about her husband “awful” and “disgusting” and said he didn’t deserve to be commander in chief. She also said during the primary, “I feel no need to kiss the ring.”
So much for Trump wanting unity:For Trump, unity means complete submission. That will be on full display at the RNC.
Nevertheless, she puckered, showing a remarkable tone change during Tuesday night’s RNC speech: “Donald Trump has my strong endorsement, period.”
I guess she must’ve forgotten the time Trump posted on social media: “Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley is very bad for the Republican Party and, indeed, our Country. … Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.”
Not to be outdone in the abandoning-all-integrity department, DeSantis had this to say about the man who, during the primary, suggested the Florida governor might be a pedophile: “Let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House!”
Wow! That’s an interesting way to respond to a man whose campaign referred to him as a “desperate eunuch” and a “disloyal dog” while also saying he needed “a personality transplant” and “The real DeSantis record is one of misery and despair.”
Heck, Trump once claimed: “DeSanctus doesn’t even like farmers!”
Yet there he was at the Fiserv Forum, Gov. DeSanctimonious talking pretty for the man who verbally thrashed him.
Glad to see Cruz, Haley and DeSantis have forgiven the man who said truly unforgivable things about them. It shows a true lack of character and a thirst for power strong enough to override any modicum of self-respect. And I’m not even getting into “Little Marco” Rubio, who Trump once called a “lightweight choker” who “looks like a little boy on stage.”
That little boy was scheduled to take the stage Tuesday night as well, choking out words of praise for his tormentor.
Pathetic subservience. Or as it’s known in Trump’s Republican Party: perfect.
Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on X, formerly Twitter, @RexHuppke and Facebook facebook.com/RexIsAJerk