William Barr made it absolutely clear that he’d like Republicans to forget about Donald Trump if the former president decides to run again in 2024. Indeed, he wants the party to start considering younger leaders, he writes in a new book to be published in early March.

In his book, One Damn Thing After Another, Barr really lets Donald Trump have it, saying he believes Trump could have beaten Biden if he’d “just exercised a modicum of self-restraint, moderating even a little of his pettiness,” the New York Post and Wall Street Journal report.

Trump’s former attorney general writes that he wants to see members of his party consider “an impressive array of younger candidates.” While he didn’t mention names he did add he hopes these potential candidates will share Trump’s agenda but not “his erratic personal behavior.”

While I would agree that we need younger candidates, when Barr writes this does it means he wants obvious white supremacists, misogynists, and fascists to run? Because Trump exemplified all these things. So I’m hoping the Democrats will get on board with seeking younger candidates as well. As I’ve mentioned before, Biden is 79, and if Hillary Clinton runs she’ll be 76. And Trump is now 75. Both parties need younger candidates with newer ideas.

And frankly, we’ll be better off if these candidates don’t follow Trump’s agenda.

But at least Barr, who served as Attorney General from February 2019 to December 2020 has one good idea anyway. He may want to support Trump’s agenda, but he’s clearly no fan of the former president, and he writes Trump has “shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed.”

He’s correct there. Trump’s entire presidency was all about himself and his family. He made it all about himself and continually acted as if that’s the only way he should be. This is a terrible way for any leader of a first-world country to act.

And of course, Trump was true to form when he spoke last Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, where he once again baselessly claimed that President Joe Biden wasn’t elected legitimately.

“Under our administration, Russia respected America just like every other country respected America, but now Joe Biden is seen as weak,” Trump told his Orlando audience.

I’m sure German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would beg to differ. Each had their own run-ins with Trump.

But during his CPAC speech, Trump also emphasized his chumminess with Russian President Vladimir Putin, noting that somehow the Ukraine situation might be different if he were still president.

“As everyone understands, this horrific disaster would never have happened if our election was not rigged and if I was the president.”

I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I’m going to say that’s a really big maybe.

In his upcoming book, Barr also refers to a particularly heated meeting he had with Trump in the oval office on December 21, 2021. Barr had just publicly stated that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could reverse Biden’s win. Obviously, this contradicted the former president, who was not a happy camper.

“This is killing me — killing me. This is pulling the rug right out from under me,” said a furious Trump, according to Barr’s book. “He stopped for a moment and then said, ‘You must hate Trump. You would only do this if you hate Trump.'”

Barr then reminded the former president that he’d “sacrificed a lot personally to come in to help you when I thought you were being wronged,” but added that the Justice Department found no evidence to back up his claims about the “big lie.”

And of course, Trump being Trump, he didn’t express gratefulness. Instead, he cited a laundry list of his grievances against Barr, including his decision not to prosecute former FBI director James Comey.

The situation escalated from there.

Barr offered to resign and Trump’s anger boiled over.

“Accepted!” he yelled and banged his hand on the table, Barr writes. “Leave and don’t go back to your office. You are done right now. Go home!”

White House lawyers stepped in and Trump didn’t act on it but Barr resigned in the following weeks.

I’m glad the Trump circus has left town. I’m sure Barr doesn’t miss it either.