Since Donald Trump inexplicably (to me) won the GOP nomination for President this last election cycle, my wife and I have had a lot of discussions about what I call ‘The Red Line.’ These discussions usually center on how come we see so many Trump signs in our corner of the world, or how some politician can stand there on TV and defend the things that Trump is doing. And because I am a person who is blessed/cursed with the ability to see ‘both sides’ of a thing, I came up with the Red Line, not so much to excuse certain voters or politicians, but to try to explain it. And maybe to try to cope with what I’m seeing.

A Red Line issue is that one thing (or things; you can have more than one Red Line issue) that a voter will absolutely not compromise on. Maybe it’s abortion. Maybe it’s taxes. Maybe it’s immigration. Whatever it is, it can be an absolute dealbreaker, can stop someone from voting for a candidate that they agree with wholeheartedly on everything—except a Red Line issue. I am sure some voters stayed home in 2024 because Kamala Harris made protecting abortion rights such a huge plank in her platform, and that was a Red Line for them. I can easily imagine plenty of Republicans holding their noses and voting for Trump because Harris being a woman, and/or Black, and/or a Democrat was their Red Line. The Red Line is something that can’t be moved or crossed easily. (Side note, as a writer of fiction, one of the best things you can do is find your character’s ‘Red Line’ and push them right up to it.)

Now, for almost as long as Trump has been a “politician,” we’ve been hearing from reporters, bloggers and insiders that most establishment Republicans actually hate him, what he’s done to the Republican Party, the office of the President, our country’s standing worldwide, and the country itself, and are ready to break with him. And yet, they side with him, over and over and over again, through “The Perfect Phone Call,” through repeated violations of the Hatch Act and the emoluments clause, and through January 6. Attempting to bribe a foreign leader was not a Red Line. Trying to overturn the 2020 election was not a Red Line (“just leave the rest to me and the Republican Congressmen,” remember that?). Sending an angry and semi-armed mob to the Capitol was not a Red Line. And now that he’s back in power, imposing tariffs illegally, impounding funds earmarked by Congress, telling his Attorney General who to charge, and looting the treasury for himself and his friends? Unleashing masked, untrained thugs with military grade weapons on the American people? Blowing up fishermen in the Caribbean like it’s a deleted scene from Clear and Present Danger? Not Red Lines.

Well, maybe we’re finally finding one. This week, four House Republicans (Thomas Massie, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace and Lauren Boebert) left their names on a discharge petition that will force a vote on the release of the Epstein files, and from what we’ve already seen, these files will not be pretty for Trump (and, it seems, for a lot of other rich, powerful, influential types). According to the stories, Trump exerted heavy pressure on at least Boebert and Mace, going so far as to summon Boebert to the Situation Room at the Whitehouse, and making repeated calls to Mace. To my great surprise, none of them caved to the threats and/or bribes that were almost certainly extended. Greene, Boebert and Mace could fill a reservoir with the water they’ve carried for Trump, after all, but maybe we’ve finally found their Red Line.

And the rest of them? Greene is suggesting that at least 50 Republicans in the House will go against Trump’s will and will vote to release the files. From there it will go to the Senate, where it should be a no brainer—protecting an actual pedophile shouldn’t be a Red Line for anyone, after all—but I expect, if there aren’t any current Senators in those files, there are certainly some very high-profile donors who are, and you can bet where their Red Line lies.

I am feeling cautiously optimistic for the first time in a while that something may finally come along that can take Trump down. When Trump declared back in 2016 that he could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes, I snorted rather derisively and rolled my eyes. I’m not rolling my eyes anymore, and I’m no longer surprised when some Republican dismisses or handwaves or pretends they just don’t know anything about Trump’s latest transgression. But it’s nice to see someone in a position of power might finally have found their Red Line. I just can’t believe it’s MTG, Boebert and Mace.

Post script: Amanda Marcotte has a great piece at Salon on the conundrum Republican women face in defending Trump and general Republican policies. You can read it here.