What’s become of the Republican Party since Donald Trump became its de facto leader? One of the party’s former members, and a foremost thinker on conservative thought, has a theory.
Conservative commentator George Will left the Republican Party in 2016, shortly after Trump secured the party’s nomination for president.
Speaking at the time about his decision to leave the party, Will explained that it had, in fact, left him, especially as other members of the GOP had begun falling in line with Trumpism and away from true conservatism.
“I decided that, in fact, this is not my party anymore. I changed my registration to unaffiliated 23 days” after then-Speaker of the House Paul Ryan endorsed Trump, he said on Fox News Sunday.
Will has continued to be an ardent critic of the President since that time, and Wednesday morning was no different. Speaking with MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle, Will was discussing the status of the supposed-conservative party of the nation.
Ruhle mentioned how she saw that “the conservative party has become the party of Trump.” Will interjected, disagreeing with her assessment slightly.
“It’s become a cult. It’s become a cult because of an absence of ideas,” Will explained, per reporting from Mediaite.
Will elaborated. “[C]onservatives said we’re for free trade, Trump said by the way you’re not anymore, and they said okay, we’re not for free trade anymore, or they pretend to be,” he said.
On the question over whether there were any candidates who would be a better option for a true conservative to vote for in 2020, Will said that, provided the Senate remains in Republican hands, almost any Democrat would be a better choice. That would “virtually block legislative change,” Will said, making it impossible for Trump to do more damage with a Congressional chamber that would be willing to support his extremist ideals.
Watch the video below:
Featured image: screen grab
