The Republican party’s symbol, the elephant, lies dead next to a gravestone reading “RIP G.O.P. 1854-2017”.It symbolizes the fundamental changes of the party in 2017 when Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. Illustration by Antonio Starks
Republicans’ support of United States President Donald Trump is fundamentally bad for the party.
The Republican Party, also known as the Grand Old Party, is known for promoting conservatism: limited government, family values and fiscal responsibility. However, they have abandoned all of these in order to blindly support Donald Trump.
The party has devolved from “Honest Abe” Lincoln to “12000+ false statements” Trump, according to the Washington Post. True patriotic Republicans should distance themselves from Trump if the party wants any chance of success and respect.
Republicans project themselves as being more fiscally responsible than Democrats. However, according to an article on USA Today, the 2019 Federal Deficit is at $984.4 billion. During the last fiscal year of the Obama administration, it was at $474 billion.
As for its claim of “limited” government, the Republican party under Trump has consistently implemented government intervention when it suits them, such as with border security, increased military spending and efforts to restrict access to abortions.
As the head of the Republican Party, Trump is supposed to embody Republican ideals. However, this is just not the case. Trump’s wall was calculated to cost $25 billion as reported by a statistician on Fox News. His three marriages aren’t a good representation of “family values”. He surely can’t be personally responsible with his finances; he’s refused to share his tax returns. While the Republicans regularly back the second amendment, Trump has expressed support for “Red Flag Laws.” If Trump is a supposed reflection of conservative values, he sure isn’t a good one.
Yet many of his supporters believe Trump can do no wrong. According to a Monmouth University poll, 62% of his supporters state there is nothing he could do to lose their support. Since the impeachment inquiry, few Republicans have spoken out against Trump. None in the House of Representatives voted ‘yes’ on the impeachment resolution.
Republicans may argue that in order to preserve their reputation, they feel pressured to back Trump 100%. But always toeing the party line has its disadvantages. People may begin to associate the GOP with Trump which may push voters away.
There is already evidence of Republicans losing voters since Trump has been in office. Matt Bevin, Trump’s endorsement in the Kentucky gubernatorial race, lost to Democrat Andy Beshear, and Democrats took back the House in 2018.
If Republican members stay in blind support of Trump, it may defile the reputation of the party for years.
