How Donald Trump brings out the worst in many Republicans

Donald Trump certainly has been an interesting character this election cycle. He has broken all the conventional laws of politics, rules of civility, and ruffled just about everyone’s feathers. He has openly insulted other people and called reporters stupid and idiots, while getting into a war over sizes with Senator Marco Rubio. Among other things, he’s even made some radical proposals such as building a big wall around the country and mass deporting illegal immigrants that scare everyone in the Republican mainstream. His effect isn’t just limited to mainstream Republicans, however. Many conservatives and libertarians also losing their minds over Trump at the moment.

But the only thing worse than Trump himself is the rhetoric in opposition to him.

Libertarians, evangelical Republicans, and otherwise concerned conservatives like to portray Trump as the end of the American Republic. Godwin’s Law gets a heavy workout in a discussion about Trump, with references to Hitler and memes referencing the Nazi regime. It’s disrespectful to those millions of people who suffered under the policies of Hitler, but that doesn’t stop many Republicans. Disrespecting victims of Nazism doesn’t bother those who are determined to stop Trump.

From an ideological standpoint, the idea that Trump is the worst America has ever had is absurd. After living through two terms of President Barack Obama, it should be very clear who the worst is and that topping this would be difficult for even a Democrat.

Though it’s not at all surprising since the Republican Party spent the two terms of President Obama’s presidency capitulating to him. Whether it be old House Speaker John Boehner or his replacement Paul Ryan, their opposition only extends about as far as some jabs of rhetoric before eventually capsizing. Senator John McCain and Mitt Romney are now more opposed to Donald Trump, a Republican, than they ever were when the Republican nominee against President Obama.

It’s not a surprise at all that President Obama won two elections against the Republican Party.

Now the Republican Party seems ready to sabotage it’s own operation in it’s desperate attempt to stop Trump and hand Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders the Presidency. Three terms of a Democrat? Is this what Republicans want?

The alternative really isn’t anything to brag about, either. While Republicans often sided with President Obama or caved to Democratic opposition, they’re pushing two candidates against Trump who have in the past insisted on protecting the President’s unconstitutional power to spy on law-abiding American citizens.

Senator Ted Cruz believes that whistleblower Edward Snowden is a traitor for exposing the massive surveillance program run by the NSA, a position that the Obama Administration shares. This is not entirely surprising considering Senator Cruz is a former lawyer for the Bush Administration, an administration that passed the USA PATRIOT Act and expanded the police and surveillance states in America greatly.

Senator Marco Rubio, though questionably viable at this point, has always complained when Democrats or Republicans have wanted to strip, scale back, or otherwise dare limit President Obama’s ability to spy on everyday Americans and store their data in a database. Issues such as the constitutional requirement for congressional approval for war and the Fourth Amendment really are not relevant to Senator Rubio.

This is the opposition to President Barack Obama, and now Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? No wonder they lost to him. They’re the party of Democrat Lite.

If the Republicans, which at this point includes moderates, conservatives and even libertarians, want to become serious about their principles, it’s time to stop this Trump alarmism. Does that mean accept Trump? No.

Make your case about the principled differences with Trump, advance your case for your candidate, and have a coherent rebuttal for Trump’s policies that doesn’t involve preparing your Chicken Little impression for Halloween.

Chris Dixon

About Chris Dixon

Chris Dixon is a libertarian-leaning writer and managing editor for The Liberty Conservative. In addition to his political writing, he also covers baseball for Cleat Geeks and enjoys writing on a number of other topics ranging on Medium.