The establishment that now disparages him was responsible for his rise.
In the newest season of Game of Thrones, viewers finally learn of the origin of the White Walkers — the mythical ice monsters posing a threat to all of humanity. In the midst of a do-or-die battle with human aggressors, the Children of the Forest — mythical forest creatures with arcane abilities — created the White Walkers as a means of defending themselves, hoping to save their race from extinction. Eventually, however, the White Walkers broke free of the Children’s control and created an army to consume the world.
Just as the people of Westeros now face the dire predicament of an onslaught of the undead, the Republican establishment faces its own rebellious creation: Donald Trump.
In May and early June, Republicans began expressing hope that Trump would change his campaign rhetoric: “I think he gets it. . . . I think you’re going to see the change in tone . . . ” said Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. House speaker Paul Ryan echoed these sentiments, saying that he hoped the Trump campaign would “improve its tone.” Even Bob Dole said, “I can already see sort of a shift with Trump.” And Trump’s victory speech on June 7, in which his use of a Teleprompter resulted in a much more muted attitude, reignited these hopes, with Republicans looking for a new Trump, one who would avoid controversial comments and maintain a presidential character. Priebus posted a particularly sycophantic tweet just after the speech, writing: “Great victory speech . . . Exactly the right approach and perfectly delivered.”
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But Trump has a different plan. On Wednesday, at a rally in Atlanta, he slammed Republican leaders, calling them “weak” and telling them to “just please be quiet.” And Thursday morning, Trump’s campaign co-chair had a similar message: “Either they want to get behind the presumptive nominee who will be the nominee of this party and make sure that we do everything we can to win in November or we’re just asking them if they can’t do that, then just shut the hell up,” said Sam Clovis. So with Trump now saying that either they can get in line or he’ll go it alone, does the Republican establishment actually think that he’s going to change? Or are they just going to hold their noses until November?
Apparently selecting the latter, cue establishment hand-wringing. After the most recent string of endorsements for Trump, which included Ryan and other high-profile Republicans, the GOP — tired of being forced to defend his inane and inflammatory comments — is trying to avoid talking about him altogether. Blame Trump, they say, he’s the one responsible for this.
In the absence of smart border-security proposals, we get demagogical calls for the construction of a wall.
But while Trump may be the most immediate danger to their party, the blame for this situation lies with the GOP itself. The Republican party’s refusal to address important political issues and inability to meaningfully confront the Obama administration on problems like immigration, foreign policy, and government spending created the vacuum in the conservative movement that Donald Trump capitalized on. In the absence of smart border-security proposals, we get demagogical calls for the construction of a wall, and with American weakness on the world stage, Trump’s cooing overtures to dictators in Russia and North Korea are starting to look good to misguided voters.
Perhaps worse than Republican officials’ incompetency as lawmakers has been their failure to speak against Trump. During the primary, afraid of the prospect of Trump supporters’ turning against them, the establishment — as well as the other primary candidates — refused to effectively speak out against him. Instead, they were silent, and as the initial 16 contenders began to drop like flies, Trump consolidated his hold over the GOP field. And now, after their string of endorsements, they spend their time walking back on Trump’s treadmill of identity politics and vitriol: “What he meant was . . . ” or “The Republican party does not support . . . ” and, lastly, “Stop asking me about this!”
#related#Blame Trump, yes. Blame him for his toxic attitude, his weak policies, and his inability to govern. But let’s not pretend that the Republican party isn’t complicit in the demise it is facing. Just like the Children of the Forest, the Republican party created a monster out of fear and inaction. And just as the Children did, the GOP needs to do something, anything, to combat the Trump toxicity that has come to define their party. If they don’t, come November, they will likely face the very disaster they hoped to avoid in the first place.