Briggs: Mike Braun deserves every minute of his new political hell

Mike Braun is going to spend his twilight years trapped in a political hell of his own making.

Braun, 70, is on path to become Indiana's next governor and he's already lost control of his impending administration. Christian nationalist pastor Micah Beckwith on Saturday defeated Braun's preferred running mate, Julie McGuire, in a convention vote to win the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.

This campaign just became all about Beckwith from here to November, when Beckwith … err, I mean, Braun … is slated to face Democrat Jennifer McCormick in the general election, barring a surprise run-in from former Sen. Joe Donnelly.

Beckwith is not here to be subservient to Braun. He ran on a platform — tax cuts, pro-gun legislation and fighting the "woke agenda in our schools" — that falls entirely under the purview of the governor and Indiana General Assembly.

Does that sound like a No. 2 to you?

Welcome to the Micah Beckwith show

The Micah Beckwith show is just getting started. Beckwith is a master at drawing attention to himself, often for spouting deranged ideas. One video clip making the rounds over the weekend shows Beckwith claiming that, while in prayer, God told him he sent the rioters to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.

That's just perfect, because, as I wrote on that infamous day, Braun also invited the rioters to Washington, posing for a photo to show he was “signing my objection to Arizona electors,” as he jockeyed with other Republicans to placate their man-toddler president who was seeking to overturn the election.

When the mob broke in, threatened to kill then-Vice President Mike Pence and forced all of Congress into hiding, things got a little too real for Braun. He dropped his objections to election certification, in contrast to other Republicans who were more committed to the bit.

Now, Braun marches toward the governor's office under the cattle prod of an enforcer who's there to ensure he remains committed to the bit … or else. Braun thought he could play voodoo with the forces of MAGA while reaping all rewards and no consequences.

It's time to pay the piper.

Mike Braun almost gets it

It's a befitting final chapter for a heretofore respectable man who put on the armor of nihilism and shape-shifted his way from Democratic-voting businessman to Trump toady, all for the sake of ego and power. Even now, Braun deludes himself into thinking he's taming the current that's sweeping him away.

"There's no doubt about this: I'm in charge," Braun told reporters Saturday, mere moments after 891 Republican delegates voted for Beckwith and sent a clear message that he is not in charge. "Micah is going to be someone that works with me. And, if he doesn't, I think that means that it will probably not be as fruitful in terms of what we can get done."

You see there? Beckwith has all the leverage and Braun has nothing. You think Beckwith cares whether Braun's time as governor is "fruitful," as defined by Braun?

Braun is processing his fate in real time and almost getting it. Let me spell it out. Braun's footsie with the dark arts summoned a MAGA high priest who just subsumed Braun's gubernatorial campaign, his dignity and any hope of successful governance.

Braun is not alone in his delusion. Just two years after Diego Morales executed a similar convention coup to become one of the most embarrassing statewide office holders in Indiana history, establishment-wing Republicans again approached Saturday's convention professing unearned confidence that their lieutenant governor pick, McGuire, would come out on top by a wide margin.

It's like they're not paying attention to their own party.

The Indiana Republican Party, like Braun, is blinded by hollow victories of the past eight years. The country club Republicans think they've harnessed MAGA to achieve their own ends, but MAGA has put the establishment's head on a pike. Even the most mild-mannered Republicans have spent the Trump years catastrophizing enemies, trading policy for cruelty, and embracing words and behaviors that no responsible parent would want their children to emulate.

Republicans' decade of moral and cognitive corrosion has put Morales atop the Secretary of State's Office that once fired him; sent Twitter troll Jim Banks on an unabated path to the Senate; and catapulted Beckwith toward statewide office and, possibly, frontrunner status to win the next Republican nomination for governor, maybe in as few as four years.

Hell, as I mentioned, Braun is 70 and has a habit of giving up when things get hard. We might not even have to wait four years to see Beckwith as governor. If you hadn't considered that prospect yet, well, you're welcome.

Republicans think their base is stupid

So many Republicans fooled themselves into thinking they could contain a duality, performing for the unwashed masses in public and playing businesslike leaders in private. Establishment Republicans think Trump supporters are too simplistic and stupid to see who's with them and who isn't.

Convention delegates saw through it. They saw Beckwith, an unhinged pastor who's unqualified to lead most mainstream churches, as one of their own and correctly identified Braun and McGuire as fakers.

Braun tried everything. He tried reverse psychology, saying nice things about Beckwith to show he's cool and of the people, while also cajoling statewide officeholders (even Morales!) to endorse McGuire. Braun got the big gun, Trump himself, to fire off an endorsement at the last minute.

Hopeful delegates thought the Trump endorsement sealed the deal for McGuire. I didn't. Neither did Beckwith, who noted Trump doesn't even know McGuire and correctly viewed the endorsement as a sign of how close he was to winning.

Establishment Republicans refused to believe Beckwith had the votes and, after he won, they blamed their defeat on McGuire supporters for failing to show up to the convention. It's a turnout problem, you see, and not a party problem.

No. It's a party problem. Republicans put their true faith in Trump, a showman who tricked them all into thinking he is a great and powerful wizard. MAGA is not only about Trump, the person, though. It's a movement powered by airing grievances, finding scapegoats and taking vengeance against them. Beckwith is the man for this moment, with or without a Trump endorsement.

Beckwith is the new conservative movement leader in Indiana. Braun must answer to that movement every step of the way from here on out. He deserves every minute of this oncoming dumpster fire. So do state Republican Party leaders. They brought it on themselves.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, we'll pay the price for Republicans' education in MAGA.

Contact James Briggs at 317-444-4732 or james.briggs@indystar.com. Follow him on X and Threads at @JamesEBriggs.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Micah Beckwith isn't here to play No. 2 to the next Indiana governor