President Donald Trump’s claims about opponents “trying to steal the election” have even led US news channels to censor him. Most mainstream Republican leaders have refused to support or criticize him, preferring to speak softly about the need to respect the electoral process.
This has drawn the ire of his son, Don Trump Jr, who accused party leaders of “sitting on the sidelines.” One of the targets: Nikki Haley, the American Indian considered a Republican presidential candidate. She has highly praised Trump’s leadership, but she stopped there.
An angry Republican tweeted: “Nikki Haley is doing what?” sparking praise from Trump’s son. A congressman accused Haley of “praising” when others were “fighting” for the president.
Haley’s dilemma is shared by all moderate Republicans when faced with reckless language from Trump. Only those who rely on local support or near retirement, such as Senators Susan Collins and Pat Toomey, have openly refuted Trump. Trump, the New York Times admitted, “will continue to be a hero” to the Republican electorate. When it comes to their base, they have once again defied the establishment they despise. Pollsters, including those in his own party, had predicted a landslide for Joe Biden. Instead, Trump took the back seats in the lower house and may retain his majority in the Senate.
His participation in the popular vote increased two percentage points. Although accused of being a racist, Trump won more minority votes than any Republican candidate in 60 years. When asked what he would do if he were defeated, the president used to half-joke that he would run in 2024. After his election performance, Trump’s aura with the American working class has only grown.
The Republican Party was always a chimera: a pro-business head grafted onto a body of the working class.
Trump seized the party base, argued that his leadership was no different from the liberal establishment, and discarded principles of right-wing ideology such as free trade and fiscal sobriety.
Trump used his popularity with the faithful to bring the party leadership to its knees. Many Republican leaders silently prayed for a sweeping victory for Biden. “A cleanup collapse,” wrote National Review editor Rich Lowry of his hopes that “all traces of Trump and his enablers will be wiped out of the Republican Party,” except that it didn’t happen. Instead, the middle-class intellectuals and businessmen who crafted the party’s right-wing ideology are likely to be pushed further to the margins.
In his first term, Trump relied on members of the Republican mainstream for his administration staff.
While he got away with trade and the fiscal deficit, he was with them on regulations and taxes.
If it has a second term, the party fears it will move to impose its 19th-century nativism on other areas, such as ending US alliances abroad and shutting down migration. Triumphant Trumpism will be a nightmare for President Biden. Biden hoped to work with mainstream Republicans and resurrect bipartisanship in Washington. Following these poll results, Republican leaders will avoid shaking hands and instead join Trump’s plans to wage a four-year guerrilla war against the new administration.
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