Republicans, Dump Trump

Jungjin Kim | December 12, 2022

Illustration courtesy: Erin Kim

The following is an opinion expressed by the writer and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Spirit staff. I don’t say that as an insult. I say that as genuine advice. Donald Trump is a sinking ship. For Republicans, jumping out of that ship is the only way to survive. What happened in this year’s midterms raised a huge red flag to all Republicans across the United States. Time after time, Trump-backed Republican candidates for Congress failed to win key races. Republicans fell short of the “Red Wave” they expected. In fact, many argue that the country became more Democrat—a weird phenomenon for a midterm that happened in the middle of a failing economy under Democratic President Joe Biden.

Republicans, you have to under only won the Republican primary because the anti-Trump vote in the party was split between his opponents, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. He won the general election because Hillary Clinton was one of the worst nominees in the history of the Democratic Party. The truth of the matter is Trump has never been popular among the general population. He is a radical; moderates typically do better than radicals. Just take a look at George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Biden—they all ran on being moderates who can reach the other side of the political aisle.

Republicans, when your party suffers a defeat as atrocious as the one you suffered in this year’s midterms, it is a telltale sign that you need to return to your roots. The Republican Party is supposed to be a party of small federal government, an advocate for states’ rights, a champion for the Constitution, and a standard bearer for traditional values and institutions. Frankly, Trump is not a conservative. He has no respect for the Constitution and traditional institutions, and this is evident. Just look at how he handled the aftermath of his defeat in the 2020 presidential election. Instead of showing respect to the centuries old institution of American democracy, established by the Founding Fathers, he outright denied that he lost the election. That is not being a Republican or a conservative. That is called being a narcissist. Trump makes Democrats look like they are the party of tradition, which should scare the living daylights out of Republicans because the Republican Party has held onto that title since it was formed by Abraham Lincoln in 1856.

Republicans, you have alternatives. Ron DeSantis won the state of Florida by 19 points. That is the largest margin of victory for any Republican in the state of Florida since the end of the Civil War. He has clearly proven that he is a more viable option than Trump, appealing to both independents and moderate Democrats. The presidency is ripe for picking. Biden has presided over one of the worst economic collapses in US history, not to mention his age—he recently turned 80. You have no reason to nominate a person as divisive and controversial as Trump, especially when you have a superior option. Republicans, wakeup. Republicans, dump Trump.