Donald Trump and his minions have completely overtaken the Republican Party. Now, concerned politicians are fearful that the new ‘Trump Party’ is not only an imminent threat to the future existence of the GOP, but to all of democracy.
Politics
Former House Speaker John Boehner, who, along with Sen. John McCain, is seen as one of the last of a dying breed of authentic Republicans, attacked his own party last week during an appearance in Michigan.
“There is no Republican Party. There’s a Trump party,” Boehner said. “The Republican Party is kind of taking a nap somewhere.”
The now-retired politician added that he never expected Trump to win the election.
“Donald Trump, who I know well, was one of my supporters, when I was speaker,” Boehner recalled. “I was having a rough week, Trump would call me, pat me on the back, cheer me up, played a lot of golf together. But president? Really? I never quite saw this.”
Boehner added he wasn’t the only one who was shocked when Trump won the election.
“The two most surprised people in the world that night were Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton thought that she was going to win, and Donald Trump thought that he was going to lose. I think Donald Trump promised Melania that he would not win,” Boehner continued. “She didn’t have to worry about ever living in the White House. It’s probably why she doesn’t look real happy every day. But, well, maybe one reason,” he said.
Making it clear that he is NOT a fan of the Trump Party, Boehner calls most of what Trump has done in office “a complete disaster.”
In a recent Op-Ed piece for USA Today, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus had this to say about “The Donald” and his Trump Party:
Confusion and chaos, constant lies and baseless accusations. America is in a mad scramble as President Trump and his team take a page right out of the Vladimir Putin/KGB playbook for controlling and owning the masses.
The news media are overwhelmed keeping up with the lies, chaos, misdirection and cover-ups. Congressional Democrats are the last defense — but they are spooked. Polls showing voters’ lack of appetite for the “I” word (impeachment) are sending them into retreat.
Trump lies with abandon on Twitter to his 52 million followers. And while much of his base is not on Twitter, the lies are amplified when repeated, supported and propagandized by the media they do consume.
Non-Trump media are routinely tripped up and slow to fact-check, opting instead to simply repeat the misinformation, acting as mere stenographers, or providing airtime to Trump mouthpieces. The public has to wait hours for the truth and wade through a myriad of outlets to get it.
Democrats (and other anti-Trump voices) need to fight the daily Trump lies and distractions in the same type of venue and forum in real time. A daily fact-checking, anti-corruption briefing that follows the White House briefing or other Trump-related breaking news, akin to the opposition party’s response to a State of the Union address, is in order.
Politics
In his new book The President Is Missing, former President Bill Clinton wrote this about the Trump Party:
“Our democracy cannot survive its current downward drift into tribalism, extremism, and seething resentment. Our willingness to believe the worst about everyone outside our own bubble is growing, and our ability to solve problems and seize opportunities is shrinking.”
“After 9/11, the greatest threat to our democracy lived in a cave (Osama Bin Laden). Today, he lives in the White House. No one, even the president, is above the law.” – Dan Helmer, Democrat for Congress
Is Donald Trump and the Trump Party a legitimate threat to the actual Republican Party? Has it already ruined the mystique and dignity of the presidency or democracy itself? Now that Pandora’s Box has been opened, can anyone stop the Trump Party?
Is Donald Trump and the Trump Party a legitimate threat to the actual Republican Party? Has it already ruined the mystique and dignity of the presidency or democracy itself? Now that Pandora’s Box has been opened, can anyone stop the Trump Party? […] – DJ Good questions DJ. I’ll start by saying: No. Trump and his party aren’t “a legitimate threat to the actual Republican Party” because the actual Republican party is already dead. Its eventual demise was set in motion the moment Repub leaders embraced Nixon’s Southern Strategy, a white racist backlash against the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Fast forward to 2016: Trump and his party killed off what was left of the GOP and put the nail in the coffin on the day he officially won the Repub nomination for the presidency in… Read more »