How the Republican Party Created Donald Trump — and Surrendered to the Monster It Made
Republicans crafted the cynical strategy that gave rise to Trump, and now they bow before the monster they created.
“The less talent they have, the more pride, vanity, and arrogance they have. All these fools, however, find other fools who applaud them.”
– Erasmus, 1509
Donald Trump did not emerge out of the ether; he is a creation of the Republican Party. The GOP is complicit in Trump’s malfeasance, but even more damning, they are the ones who groomed the American public to make it possible for such a presidential candidate to be construed as viable.
Republicans crafted the cynical strategy that gave rise to Trump, and now they bow before the monster they created. Most rightly expected that Trump would be a wrecking ball in his second term, but many, including the former Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, have been taken aback by the extent of the Republican party’s acquiescence.
The GOP abdicated their duties and flouted the responsibilities entrusted to them in the Constitution.. Bernie Sanders echoed these sentiments, saying: “it amazes me, it really does, how easily my Republican colleagues here in the Senate and in the House are willing to surrender their constitutional responsibilities. Give it over to the president.” As Trump’s former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said, the politicians in the Republican party are “jellyfish.”
Republican strategist Steve Schmidt explained: “[The Trump administration is a] twisted court filled with imbeciles, ne’er do wells, criminals, fraudsters, sociopaths, thugs and wannabe gangsters, who have succumbed to arrogance and fever dreams that preface a catastrophe before the fall,” adding, “What makes this current situation truly despicable from an American perspective is the lack of apoplexy and disgust from America’s elected representatives, including governors, US senators and US representatives.”
The GOP has a history of assailing democracy with division and disinformation
“We’re witnessing the self-sabotage of the United States. ‘America First’ always meant America alone, a predatory America whose role in the world is no longer based on democratic belief…siding with Russia and China against almost all of its fellow democracies. Is this who Americans want to be? For this is what America is being turned into.”
Republicans have been using methods like voter suppression to chip away at democracy for decades, but under Trump, these efforts went into overdrive. At the end of the day, the GOP was not deterred by Trump’s coup attempt and his insurrection. They did not muster the courage or the moral fortitude to refute his election lies. As Fred Wertheimer wrote, “Republican officeholders have fueled Trump’s Big Lie, either by actively spreading it or by failing to reject it.”
The subversion of democracy is now a central tenet of the GOP’s strategy. As explained by US Senator Chris Murphy (D – CT), Republicans are trying to “destroy democracy…democratic institutions and human rights.” In recent years, the Grand Old Party, passed dozens of laws that undermine election integrity in red state houses across the country. As explained by former conservative U.S. circuit judge John Michael Luttig, “the Republican party and the Republican elected officials have betrayed their oath to the American people time and time again since January 6th, 2021.”
The seeds of Trump’s reckless pursuit of power were planted years ago. One of the roots can be traced back to former Republican Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. He hatched the plot to make politics a blood sport, and he was also behind the ruse of blaming both sides. This is a political strategy designed to normalize corruption and malfeasance. By making it appear as though both sides are equally at fault, they encourage voters to lose faith in the electoral process.
Many years after Gingrich launched his cynical scheme, Republicans are reaping the benefits of his corrupt social engineering. Even though voters elected Trump and gave Republicans control of both the House and the Senate, much of the blame for the current state of affairs has fallen on the Democrats.
The Republicans’ fossil fuel-powered climate denial
“The suicidal impulses of the fossil fuel industry have been strongly supported by Republican administrations…All of this is a race to disaster and the main criminals happen to be the Republican Party in the United States.”
– Noam Chomsky
While Trump has allied himself closely with the fossil fuel industry, Republicans were the leading purveyors of climate disinformation long before 2016. Years ago, fossil-fuel-funded influence groups launched multi-tiered efforts to purge any shred of climate reality from the Republican party. This effort was led by a wide array of conservative groups, including organizations like the Heartland Institute and oil barons known as the Koch Brothers. The Kochs spawned a cabal of influence groups and built an insidious network of control and coercion.
Groups funded by fossil fuel interests have bought the Republican Party. They use these ties to wield influence over the courts, legislators, and public opinion. Their influence also extends into statehouses across the country, where they have pushed lawmakers to criminalize climate demonstrations and outlaw protest.
A Guardian article by Peter Stone reported that Koch Industries is among the groups that are funneling millions to the Republican Attorneys General Association (Raga), to block climate laws. Raga advocates on behalf of the fossil fuel industry by litigating against environmental rules and defending against climate lawsuits. They also funded robocalls calling people to attend Trump’s January 6 insurrection.
Republicans also weakened Democrats’ legislative accomplishments. This includes Joe Biden’s historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was stuffed with generous gifts to appease the fossil fuel industry. Now Republicans are helping the fossil fuel industry to kill federal regulations (eg: the endangerment finding).
In what is perhaps their most startling single accomplishment, the GOP succeeded in undermining climate action by deceiving Americans about the facts. This is evidenced by the stark climate divide in the U.S. According to a recent Pew poll, 78 percent of Democrats acknowledge the veracity of the climate threat while only 23 percent of Republicans feel the same way.
In an AlternativeRadio.org interview with David Barsamian, Chomsky said the GOP is the reason why climate change is a low-priority issue for Americans. Chomsky explained Republicans “protect the profits of the rich and the corporate sector, which they abjectly serve.”
The GOP is transferring wealth from the poor to the rich
“I don’t know what word in the English language I can’t find one that applies to people who are willing to sacrifice the literal existence of organized human life so they can put a few more dollars into highly overstuffed pockets. The word evil doesn’t begin to approach it. “
– Noam Chomsky
Republicans use disinformation to play to the fears and insecurities of voters while serving the interests of their wealthy donors and corporate masters. According to Chomsky, the GOP champions what he calls “savage capitalism”. A recent incarnation of this approach is the multi-trillion-dollar wealth transfer from the poor to the rich contained in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. As reported by CBS, most of Trump’s tax cuts benefit the top 20 percent of households.
Taking your money and giving it to the rich is described by Murphy as “the whole game for Republicans,” adding they don’t care, “even if it means kicking your parents out of a nursing home or turning off Medicaid for the poorest children. They know what they are doing is deeply unpopular. They are offering a tax cut to the most wealthy that is 850 times larger than what they are offering working people. Oh, and by the way, any tax cuts for working people are going to be washed out by higher costs for basic necessities, like health care and food. It’s a fundamental injustice. “
Senator Murphy called Republican tax cuts for the wealthy a “handover of our government to the billionaire class,” saying, they are stealing “your money in the dark of the night.” This is made even worse by the fact that they plan to pay for it with cuts to programs that working people rely on (eg: Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP), and increasing taxes on those who can least afford it.
As explained by Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), the poor will get poorer going forward. By 2031, anyone making less than $15,000 per year will see an increase in their taxes of almost 75 percent, and those earning from $15,000 – $30,000 per year will see a tax increase of almost 21 percent. “The people in the lower income brackets are getting screwed over by a Republican majority that doesn’t give a damn about them,” Gomez said.
Republicans are being devoured by the monster they created
“There is effectively no Republican party anymore. There is a radical movement to destroy the modern American state and eviscerate its institutions in favor of restoring a mythical, elysian, majority-white, nineteenth-century past.”
Trump has usurped Republican power, and now the GOP feels compelled to genuflect at the feet of the monster they created. Republicans are now little more than unprincipled, feckless sycophants who cower in fear of a primary challenge. They have closed ranks to punish party members who refuse to endorse Trump’s broken policies and parrot his lies. As Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger wrote, “In Trump’s world, there is no room for dignity or resistance—only total submission to the Don.”
Wall Street investment firm executive Eileen Workman worked alongside Trump in the financial services sector, and she describes him as a “sociopath”. She also offered the following thoughts about the Republican Party: “The GOP now looks much like a battered wife who would love to quit Trump, but who also knows their financial security, personal comfort, and social status would collapse if they ran away. And they fear they won’t get much sympathy or support from the people who tried to warn them not to marry the dude—a serial, liar, cheater, thief, sadist, and a generally Bad Person.”
To be clear, Republicans deserve no sympathy. They are the authors of the strategic agenda that gave rise to a miscreant president. Their cynical self-interest augurs social, economic, and environmental ruin. They are responsible for the state of the Republic. As Cheney and Kinzinger wrote, “Welcome to America, 2025.”
Republicans have created a monster that has reduced them to mere figureheads, props that lend an air of legitimacy to Trump’s repeated assaults against tradition, the rule of law, and the Constitution. The GOP applauds or stands by silently as Trump undermines the interests of the people they are supposed to represent. They cheer him on and do nothing to stop his soulless pursuit of power and self-enrichment.
Republicans are not victims of anything but their own success. Their corruption predates the most corrupt commander-in-chief in American history, and it set the stage for Trump’s rise to power. Long before the 47th president emerged on the political scene, the GOP was using disinformation and division as a strategy in their craven pursuit of power. This mendacity paved the way for the most dishonest man ever to occupy the Oval Office. Trump is not an anomaly; he is a symptom of the cancer that infected the Grand Old Party decades ago.
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