The Party Without a Spine
Republicans have proven time and again that they have no real convictions, other than gaining and maintaining political power. And they'll say or do anything toward that objective.
From the moment that Trump arrived on the political scene and wormed his way into the Republican party, members of that party — like most of us — had no idea what to make of his chances of succeeding. But right out of the starting gate, instead of criticizing him for his boorishness, his bluster, his lack of consistency, and his overt racism, Republicans tacitly welcomed him into their party. They invited the burglar they discovered in their house to sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat.
That complete lack of sales resistance has continued throughout the Trump era and prevails to this day. There have been a few “never Trumper” politicians within the GOP, of course, and even fewer who have left their party completely. But the vast majority of Republicans have allowed — and even encouraged — this completely unqualified corrupt con artist to be their standard bearer.
One thing is clear: Trump could not have prevailed in American politics without a political party that not only failed to rein him in but also twisted its own principles into unrecognizable pretzels in order to accommodate Trump’s outsized ego.
While that has happened at the party level in the cult-like hero worship that Trump has fostered among his devotees, it has happened far more cynically in the highest ranks of Republican politicians. Here’s a sampling of their hypocrisy, in their own words, reminding us yet again that the GOP has no guiding principles other than an unbridled lust for power.
Ted Cruz Before
“Donald, you’re a sniveling coward … Real men don't try to bully women … That's not an action of strength. That's an action of weakness. It's an action of fear. It's an action of a small and petty man who is intimidated by strong women.”
- 03/24/2016Ted Cruz After
“I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States … I look forward to supporting him enthusiastically.”
- 01/16/2024
Lindsey Graham Before
“He's a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot. He doesn't represent my party. He doesn't represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for... He's the ISIL man of the year.”
- 12/08/2015Lindsey Graham After
“Getting President Trump back in office is our best hope if we want a change.”
- 08/25/2024
Mitch McConnell Before
“January 6th was a disgrace …
“Former President Trump’s actions preceding the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty … There’s no question, none, that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day.”
- 02/13/2021Mitch McConnell After
“It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States … It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.”
- 03/06/2024
Kevin McCarthy Before
On a phone call with several other top House Republicans on Jan. 8, Mr. McCarthy said Mr. Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 had been “atrocious and totally wrong.” He faulted the president for “inciting people” to attack the Capitol, saying that Mr. Trump’s remarks at a rally on the National Mall that day were “not right by any shape or any form.”
- 01/08/2021 (as reported in NY Times, 04/21/2022)Kevin McCarthy After
Robert Costa: “Can he count on your support?”
Kevin McCarthy: “Yes.”
Robert Costa: “That’s an endorsement?”
Kevin McCarthy: “I will support President Trump.”
- 12/10/2023, CBS Sunday Morning
Marco (“Liddle Marco”) Rubio Before
“We’re on the verge of having someone take over the conservative movement who’s a con artist … His target audience is working Americans who are really struggling over the last few years in this economy. But he has spent a career sticking it to working America.”
- 02/26/2016 (on NBC’s Today Show)
“You have all kinds of people that are lifelong conservatives, or at least claim to be, who don’t seem to care that Donald Trump has never been and is not now a conservative on principles. And they’ve staked their reputation on their support of him.”
- 03/14/2016 (interview with The Guardian)Marco (“Liddle Marco”) Rubio After
“I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the ONLY way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created.”
- 01/14/2024 (in Twitter post)
Perhaps the most egregious of these ass-kissing turnarounds have come more recently from two people who may benefit the most from sidling up to the person they previously excoriated — one ultra-conservative Republican and one who has leveraged his family’s Democratic reputation to wheedle his way into a potential second Trump term:
J.D. Vance Before
“Trump is the fruit of the party’s collective neglect … I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler.”
- Facebook message, 2016J.D. Vance After
“If I had been vice-president, I would have told the states, like Pennsylvania, Georgia, and so many others, that we needed to have multiple slates of electors, and I think the U.S. Congress should have fought over it from there. That is the legitimate way to deal with an election that a lot of folks, including me, think had a lot of problems in 2020.”
- 02/04/2024
That’s the kind of obsequious sales pitch Trump couldn’t resist, so he named J.D. as his VP running mate in July 2024.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Before
“When frightened men take to social media they risk descending into vitriol, which makes them sound unhinged. President Trump’s rant against me is a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims that should best be resolved in the American tradition of presidential debate.”
- 04/27/2024 (in Twitter post)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. After
“These are the principled causes that persuaded me to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent, and now to throw my support to President Trump. The causes were: Free speech, the war in Ukraine, and the war on our children. One of the two candidates has adopted these issues as his own to the point where he has asked to enlist me in his administration. I'm speaking, of course, of Donald Trump.”
- 08/23/2024
As of this writing, Trump has named RFK, Jr. as part of his transition team and has floated the idea of giving RFK, Jr. a cabinet position in his administration.
The bottom line is that they all know what a dreadfully horrible human being Donald J. Trump is. Their individual and collective lack of courage is appalling. But instead of acting with integrity, they have each put their own personal and political ambition ahead of national security, integrity, and basic human decency. In so doing, they have destroyed any remaining vestiges of the integrity of the political party they claim to hold so dear.
And for what? History will not remember any of these sycophants kindly. Voters certainly should not look at any of these sycophants kindly either.