Is Trump a Republican?

[glenn1]

Trump is whatever he needs to be to further himself. So the GOP welcomes the grifter....he'd be a Dem if he thought it would help him.

Agree with this. If "Opportunistic Misyognistic Racially-Biased Anti-Intellectual Vulgarians" was a political party he'd be their messiah.

 

[Bitek]

Personally, I think all of the pundits trying to hold the NeverTrump line are hollow. They all fed the beast that led to Trump and must own their role in bringing him upon us all.

But I remain 90% certain that no lessons are being learned in the GOP, based on their continued obstruction and general lack of agenda.

I think there are intellectual conservatives and the opportunist conservatives.

Intellectuals: William f Buckley, Frum, Kristol, etc.

Serious and thoughtful policy analysis, defined and consistent philosophy.

Opportunists: Rush, Fox, most RW radio and TV, Breitbart, Infowars, etc. Trump is here.

The GOP relied on the opportunists to drive the votes, but did the intellectuals policies for the most part. However many of their policies were not effective (trickle down, deregulation, Iraq war, ) at least for the masses anyway.

Problem with the GOP is that the intellectuals overestimated their influence with the base. They don't really care that much about free market ideology, but did get hooked on the ever increasing amount of crazy and one-upsmanship from the opportunists looking for market share.

When the policies blew up spectacularly (eg 2008) who else had cred? Not the intellectuals and neo cons.

Trump was able to bridge the gap between the crazies and the jobless just looking for help.

 

[ivwshane]

Trump is the embodiment of the new Republican. Him taking the presidency is the completion of the right wing take over of the party.

My hope and my expectation is that Republicans like anna, frum, painter, etc, will leave the party in protest and a new party will be formed that is essentially the old Republican party, with a view towards free trade and more open immigration.

I expect this to happen within the next five years.

 

[Moonbeam]

That's how you define Libruhls, isn't it?

Apples to oranges...... Whose ox gets gored changes everything.

 

[greatnoob]

Agree with this. If "Opportunistic Misyognistic Racially-Biased Anti-Intellectual Vulgarians" was a political party he'd be their messiah.

They're called Republicans

 

[Younigue]

Trump is the embodiment of the new Republican. Him taking the presidency is the completion of the right wing take over of the party.

My hope and my expectation is that Republicans like anna, frum, painter, etc, will leave the party in protest and a new party will be formed that is essentially the old Republican party, with a view towards free trade and more open immigration.

I expect this to happen within the next five years.

I hope you're right and that the Trumpublicans will be (more of) a joke and never be taken seriously as a party. Idiots were never meant to have a position or voice to create change because their ideas of change can only ever be harmful. It's beyond fu*ked up that they have a leader. They're looking in the mirror with the affliction of the opposite of body dysmorphia. Stupid somehow looks good to them.

 

[Jaskalas]

Is Trump a Republican?

He's a narcissistic parasite that hitched a ride. They did nominate and vote him into office so... yeah, he is the leader of the party regardless of his other claimed values. However shallow and moronic that makes everyone involved.

 

[ivwshane]

I hope you're right and that the Trumpublicans will be (more of) a joke and never be taken seriously as a party. Idiots were never meant to have a position or voice to create change because their ideas of change can only ever be harmful. It's beyond fu*ked up that they have a leader. They're looking in the mirror with the affliction of the opposite of body dysmorphia. Stupid somehow looks good to them.

History often repeats itself and this country went through something similar in the mid 1800's.

 

[Younigue]

History often repeats itself and this country went through something similar in the mid 1800's.

Gross then, gross now. Very much looking forward to them having to crawl back in to their holes.

 

[mikeymikec]

Agree with this. If "Opportunistic Misyognistic Racially-Biased Anti-Intellectual Vulgarians" was a political party he'd be their messiah.

Wait... "their"? Try knocking off the victim blaming like you were doing in the Brock Turner thread before you can claim that msyogny is a thing that affects other people.

 

[mikeymikec]

Trump is the ultimate Republican.

Ultimate in the sense of 'last' or 'prime example'?

 

[Tiluka]

Republicans would swallow their unease about Trump after he unexpectedly won them back control of the White House. But now, after weeks of increasing criticism of the Republican leadership, Trump is flirting with Democrats in a way many in the GOP always feared.

 

[Thump553]

Just like GWB, Trump is a Republican until the wheels fall off the bus. Then the rats fleeing the sinking ship claim he was never a Republican in the first place.

The modern Republican party has absolutely no core principles. Keeping control of the government and funneling the largess to their favorite class are the only two goals.

 

[cytg111]

Wow, so you think we should let a persons hated enemies and opponents define who the are?

*edit* damn sorry. I didn't know this was a liberal circle jerk and sploogefest thread. My bad.

How about giving Donald Trump a voice then? What is the Donalds opinion on this?

https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/972327243069444096
https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/972328747792830464

It would seem that Donald is a Russian .

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Res ipsa loquitur. The thing speaks for itself.
He is the leader of the republican party and therefore a republican. Even if he openly disavowed being a republican, if he leads them then he is part of them.

Now if the question is has what it means to be a republican changed completely from say 1990 to today, then that is a completely different question.

I look at the question as to whether Trump is a Republican out of ideology or opportunity and I think the latter. He's a coincidental Republican because they allowed his ego to take control. It's an unfortunate situation where Republicans who have become bestial at too many levels had an opportunity to install an authoritarian. I can imagine Goldwater (who was pretty far out there) punching Trump square in the nose over his complete lack of any positive quality.

 

[boomerang]

Trump is whatever he needs to be to further himself. So the GOP welcomes the grifter....he'd be a Dem if he thought it would help him.

How dare you call him a politician!

 

[ch33zw1z]

How dare you call him a politician!

He became one when he decided to become one. Not sure what you're going for here lol

We can debate his sincerity wrt his commitment to it, if that's what you mean.

 

[mikeymikec]

nvm

 

[1prophet]

The GOP agenda is obvious- to concentrate economic power & the wealth of this country into the hands of a very few people.

Yep in the hands of republicans like these,

Oops my bad, you must have meant these two guys, "the evil Koch bros" because I don't see a difference without those rose colored partisan glasses many of our so called liberals wear today who have abandoned the middle class while taking front seat on every popular politically correct social justice issue.

 

[Commodus]

Yep in the hands of republicans like these,

Oops my bad, you must have meant these two guys, "the evil Koch bros" because I don't see a difference without those rose colored partisan glasses many of our so called liberals wear today who have abandoned the middle class while taking front seat on every popular politically correct social justice issue.

Warren Buffet has actively complained about the tax discrepancies between himself and lower-income earners.

Bezos, Cook and Zuckerberg have invested in programs that bring technology to public schools and promise to get rural and impoverished communities online. No, they're not pouring tons of money into issues like more affordable housing, but there's an important distinction: unlike the Koch Bros, they actually give a shit about demographics beyond their own.

Besides, you're being disingenuous as always. You know damn well that the Republicans are the ones cutting taxes for the wealthy while offering only short-term breaks (at best) for lower income brackets. You know the Republicans are the ones gutting regulatory powers to reward the telecoms and fossil fuel companies that have been bribing them for years. And even if you think social justice issues are 'trendy,' Republicans clearly go too far in the other direction; they treat you like a lower form of life if you're anything but a white, Christian, straight, cisgender man.

 

[soundforbjt]

Trump is the comments section of a Fox News story.

 

[Fern]

I look at the question as to whether Trump is a Republican out of ideology or opportunity and I think the latter.
-snip-

Yep.

I don't see any evidence of ideology.

Fern

 

[Jhhnn]

Yep.

I don't see any evidence of ideology.

Fern

So there's nothing ideological about the tax cuts, the way the Interior Dept is being run or the scraping of the bottom of the barrel for toady judicial picks?

 

[nickqt]

https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/972145798199857153

Ana is saying he isn't. Similar to what Frum, Kristol, etc. are doing trying to distance Trump from their version of the GOP.

I'd say his efforts towards deregulation, immigration, and privatization all fall squarely in the typical republican platform. The tax plan was also 100% GOP.

Also, he was chosen through their primary process and won (one way or another) and thus as president he is the leader of their party.

What say you, conservatives? Is he your leader? Or will you also disavow him?

Trump is Republicanism boiled down and condensed. Full stop.

The "Republicans" saying he isn't a Republican are just attempting to salvage their shithole brand name.

Funny, all those Republican base voters, happily voting for Trump...but he's not a Republican, boy-howdy!

It's the same way the "Tea Party" and "Independents" skyrocketed after the last Republican president.

They're trying to build lifeboats again.

Burn the fucking lifeboats.

 

[UberNeuman]

Trump is Republicanism boiled down and condensed. Full stop.

The "Republicans" saying he isn't a Republican are just attempting to salvage their shithole brand name.

Funny, all those Republican base voters, happily voting for Trump...but he's not a Republican, boy-howdy!

It's the same way the "Tea Party" and "Independents" skyrocketed after the last Republican president.

They're trying to build lifeboats again.

Burn the fucking lifeboats.

It's time for normal people to stop lending lifelines out to them.