This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.
RIP, GOP
The Republican Party has had a rich and long heritage. It was the political party of President Lincoln and President Reagan.
Then Donald Trump came along to become the Republican candidate for president. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, speaking about candidate Trump, said this in a 2015 CNN interview: “Here’s what you are buying - Trump is a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party and the values of the men and women in uniform are fighting for around the world.”
In 1860 the Whig Party morphed into the Republican Party. In 2016, the Republican Party morphed into the Trump Party.
Today the silent Trump Party members of Congress, including Sen. Graham, choose not to say anything that would upset President Trump. They won’t talk about his boasting of grabbing women by their privates, his serial bankruptcies of previous businesses, his running the White House as a business with foreign money flowing into his hotels and golf courses, his racist tweets about four U.S. citizens, Russian interference in our elections, and the list goes on.
By their silence, they are confirming that the Republican Party of Lincoln and Reagan is dead. RIP, GOP.
Mike McCarty
Spokane