The Republican Party is a mess. This disorder is mainly caused by one lying and self-interested former president and current Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump.
On Oct. 3, 2023, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, California Rep. Kevin McCarthy was ousted from power. This removal was instigated by a vote called by MAGA Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and seven other Republicans who voted with a unanimous vote from Democrats for the ousting.
According to a FiveThirtyEight poll, as of Oct. 6, Trump is leading in the Republican primary polls by holding 55.9 percent of the vote. The very distant second place candidate is Florida governor Ron DeSantis with 14.7 percent.
According to CNN, 39 percent of Republicans or Republican leaning voters feel that the 2020 election was not legitimate. This conspiracy was pushed out by Trump as soon as he found out he had lost in 2020.
Why am I telling you all this? Well, it shows you the power Trump holds over the Republican Party.
I am conservative-leaning and once I turn 18, I will be a registered Republican. Over my childhood, I have watched the party change from the party of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, to the party of Donald Trump and conspiracy theories.
This switch started in 2015, back when Trump announced his second run for the presidency. Right from the get-go, the way of G.O.P politics had changed. Hostility in debates and brutal attacks on opponents started.
From saying, “Poor Mitt Romney. Poor Mitt. . . . I mean, I have a store that’s worth more money than he is,” to saying this about his then challenger, former governor of Florida Jeb Bush, “He says nasty things and I put him down on the dais and he goes away like a little sheep,” Trump started playing dirty from the start.
Now, I am not saying Trump started the trend of attacking political opponents as many politicians before him attacked their challengers. But, Trump’s brand of attack isn’t political. Trump started to bring attacks not on the policies of the opponents, but the actual aspects of his challenger.
For example, he has called Florida Sen. Marco Rubio “Little Marco”, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz “Lyin’ Ted”.
Through all the childish name calling and petty insults, the majority of Republican voters still support him. Many representatives and senators within the Legislative branch also would do anything that would win over Trump’s approval. Part of this is because Trump has such a huge base and without Trump’s approval, many candidates won’t and can’t bring together enough Republican votes to win.
Another reason is the brainwash Trump has put into the Republican Party. The eight representatives who voted to oust McCarthy were all far right MAGAites. These are people, who if Trump told them to go jump off the top of Mount Everest, they would jump without a parachute. What I’m trying to get at is now Trump has supporters within the Republican ranks who would support him over the party itself.
Even Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who both are far right, sided with their party in keeping McCarthy as speaker. Having those two vote for McCarthy and still having representatives vote against McCarthy shows the extremes some Republicans will take to side with the MAGA side of the party.
When looking at the current state of the Republican Party, it is bad. The party is divided between centrists and MAGAites. The big question now, is, Will the party unite under the Republican nominee in 2024, or will the party continue their divide?
