The debasement of America’s grand old party
Trump’s capture of the Republicans is a problem for the world
Some Republicans have failed to stand up to Donald Trump (centre) including Paul Ryan (right), the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives © Reuters
Even as he won its nomination for president, Donald Trump was an aberrant figure in the Republican movement. His mistrust of trade and old allies contravened its orthodoxies. His brute tactics were alien. He seemed destined to govern as an independent president in all but name, with Republicans in Congress either opposing him or tolerating him grudgingly.
What has transpired over the past 18 months is much more troubling. Republicans have journeyed from shock at Mr Trump’s rise, to forbearance, to complicity, to, in some cases, outright cheerleading. This is his party now. He has re-written the Republican platform: from trade to protectionism, from leadership of the west to disruption of it, from reverence for the intelligence services to insinuations against them. Very little of this is sincere ideological conversion on the part of eminent Republicans. It is partisanship. Whoever enrages (and defeats) the Democrats can count on adoration.
It is bad enough that some Republicans have failed to stand up to Mr Trump, such as Paul Ryan, the outgoing speaker of the House of Representatives. Others have done worse. Devin Nunes, who chairs the House intelligence committee, has worked to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller in his probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Some of his Republican colleagues have filed spurious articles of impeachment against Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney-general who oversees Mr Mueller. Although Mr Ryan has resisted such calls, these are elected servants of the American people behaving like personal aides to the president.
The dread is that things will worsen after the midterm elections in November. If the Republicans do well — holding the Senate, say, and either holding or narrowly ceding the House — credit will go to Mr Trump. If the party does badly, a siege mentality will take hold as emboldened Democrats move against the president, perhaps with their own articles of impeachment. Either way, Mr Trump and his party could continue to blend into each other until they are one and the same. The aberration will have become the norm.
The mutation of the Republicans is more than an internal matter. This is one of the two great parties in the world’s most important democracy. From Dwight Eisenhower to George HW Bush, its leaders have shored up the west in times of danger. If the Republicans turn into a nativist personality cult, the implications are for the world to reckon with. No other centre-right party in a rich nation, even Britain’s wayward Conservatives, has tipped so far into populism.
There are conscientious Republicans in Congress, such as those shouting down the Rosenstein impeachment resolution. Will Hurd, who represents a Texan district, is never mealy mouthed in his criticism of Mr Trump. Such criticism comes at a price, given that many Republican voters think the president infallible, and judge congressmen by their fealty to him. But Mr Hurd’s like are few and increasingly demoralised. Anti-Trump senators, such as Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, are retiring. Arizona’s John McCain is fighting illness. The hope must be that November returns more men and women of such independent mind, and fewer in the mould of Mr Nunes.
The trouble is moderate candidates struggle to win Republican primaries in the first place. This augurs badly for the composition of future Congresses. “The Republican party is kind of taking a nap somewhere,” said John Boehner, a predecessor of Mr Ryan’s, in May. It promises to be a long nap.
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