President Donald Trump has destroyed the Republican Party with his attitude of “if you’re not MAGA, you’re not Republican.” The party that once stood for the Constitution now views it as a set of mere suggestions, a piece of paper that has little to no weight when it isn’t useful to him. I would go as far to say Trump is not a Republican, he is his own party — a cult of personality that rewards loyalty and suppresses free thought. People can be in good standing one day, but the next the president is blasting them on Truth Social and calling for them to be primaried.
If you look back at presidential candidates, you might notice the last Republican before Trump to win the GOP presidential primary was Mitt Romney. If Mitt Romney were to run today for office, the MAGA crowd and politicians would call him a RINO (Republican in Name Only). In fact, before Romney’s retirement, they did. The man who used to be face of the party was relegated to its margins and discarded. This shift over time shows the fracture of the GOP into the party of Trump and the party of others.
The split itself began in 2015 with the announcement from Donald Trump that he would seek the GOP’s presidential nomination. To many Republicans at the time, they thought it was a joke nomination. Across the aisle, people imagined his success as a far-fetched possibility. Even after his victory in the Republican Primary, many still said that Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton would be victorious in the national election. After Trump’s unexpected victory over Clinton many Republicans began a complete turnaround. This flip was in fact because he had won. Republicans began to scramble to find favor with the president to gain influence at their respective levels. They wanted to be close and attempt to be suitable for jobs within Trump’s first White House. This was followed by the 2018 midterms, where the first of many MAGA politicians began to spring up and shift electoral seats to the right by riding off Trump’s agenda. As a result, some of his previous critics became vocal supporters, using his agenda and rhetoric to boost their own campaigns and hopefully get the coveted Trump Endorsement.
Now, the sad fact is that today it is almost impossible to have a Republican go against Trump and MAGA. Most of them switched up or were voted out when facing off against a Trump backed candidate. Take for example Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach Trump over January 6th. She was voted off her leadership post and primaried by a Trump-backed Harriet Hageman. In a campaign ad during the primary, Dick Cheney would call Trump “a coward who knew he lost big.” Then, in 2024 both him and her daughter would throw their support behind Kamala Harris. Trump in turn called Dick Cheney a RINO and “the King of Endless, Nonsensical Wars.” The departure of the Cheney’s from the Republican side towards the Democrats during this election shows how this split has grown since 2015.
This thought led me to research a politician from my home state to view his refection and response to Trump. I looked up my House representative, Dan Meuser, who represents Pennsylvania’s 9th district. Looking over his record, especially surrounding the 2020 election and Trump’s trial, you can see Dan Meuser falls into line with MAGA. It is absolutely insane that the same man who was pictured being rushed out of the House Chamber as rioters attempted to enter then turns around and posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling the January 6th Commission a sham. I do not trust a representative who calls Trump’s trial and conviction quote “a blatant attempt to undermine democracy.” Even though Meuser has shown his incompetence, he will not be going anywhere anytime soon.
Donald Trump and those who support him have caused damage to the party. The party itself might forever be changed by Trump and the MAGA crowd. The GOP has gone from the Grand Old Party to the Grand Trump Party. Although it should be noted that the Republican party will not collapse or shutter — the Party has already survived Watergate and Reaganomics — Trumpism will be looked back upon as a shameful part in the long history of The Grand Old Party.