A handful of Republicans who've announced a primary challenge of Donald Trump never had a snowball's chance in hell of replacing him, but now they literally won't have a chance to in some cases.
State Republican parties across the country are canceling their primaries so Republican voters who may consider voting for a challenger won't be able to vote.
From Politico:
Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans. [...]
The cancellations stem in part from months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Trump campaign. Aides have worked to ensure total control of the party machinery, installing staunch loyalists at state parties while eliminating potential detractors. The aim, Trump officials have long said, is to smooth the path to the president’s renomination and ensure he doesn’t face the kind of internal opposition that hampered former President George H.W. Bush in his failed 1992 reelection campaign.
Trump aides said they supported the cancellations but stressed that each case was initiated by state party officials.
It's not as if Trump were ever in danger of losing a primary challenge as his approval rating among self-identified Republicans is still very high, but I think this says a lot about the future of the Republican party.
The loyalists and sycophants who idolize Trump will likely remain in politics after Trump is gone and they will ensure that the next generation of GOP candidates are molded in the image of Donald Trump.
Saint Reagan will be replaced (or already has been) by Trump as the figure the next generation of Republicans cite as an inspiration in their lives and that should probably terrify all of us.
If you've been around long enough, you know there have been times where it seemed as if the GOP couldn't possibly get worse, but it always does. Somehow, they find a way to outdo themselves and eventually they'll strive to be more Trumpian than the real Trump is.
The GOP's life after Trump is a bunch of alt-right Nazis and incels that will probably nominate a YouTuber who made a career out of owning the libs.