Has Trump irreparably corrupted the Republicans?

Donald Trump finally went too far, said Ronald Brownstein in The Atlantic. In return for his help
in appointing conservative judges and delivering tax cuts, Republican lawmakers have allowed him to corrupt their party in all manner of ways. They’ve acquiesced to his protectionist trade stance, to his “nativist” rhetoric about immigration, to his “isolationism in America’s international relations”. But even they drew the line at the recent policy of separating migrant children from their
parents at the US-Mexico border – a policy experts likened to “child abuse”. Facing condemnation from all sides, Trump backed down last week, saying that families would henceforth be detained together. The question now is whether this “represents just a solitary speed bump in his reconfiguration of the GOP around nationalist themes, or the beginning of a broader pushback”.

It was nice to hear the Republicans publicly decrying the family separation policy, said Bret Stephens in The New York Times, but we’re unlikely to see much more of a reaction from GOP leaders. For the sad fact is that a plurality of Republican voters, 46%, favoured the separation policy, while only 32% opposed it, according to an Ipsos poll. Besides, criticising Trump is risky for congressional Republicans, said David A. Graham in The Atlantic.

The president Trump remains hugely popular with the Republican base. To speak out against him as a GOP candidate is, for many, a “sure way to lose primaries”. Hence why so few dare do it. Trump’s hold over the party is so strong these days that a dissident Republican senator recently likened
the GOP to a personality cult. The party may pay a price for this come November’s midterm elections, said Stuart Rothenberg in Roll Call.

For as skilled as Trump is at energising his base, he’s alienating other voters. A sensible electoral strategy today would be to keep the electorate’s attention on the successful economy, but Trump can’t resist picking divisive fights over social issues. It’s ironic, said Kathleen Parker in The Washington Post. Republicans have been so worried about immigration, fearing that new arrivals will all vote Democrat, that they’ve ended up creating a scenario where it’s hard to imagine any of the huge number of Americans of Latino descent ever supporting a GOP candidate again. Trump may have ditched the family separation policy, but it’s too late; he has doomed his party. “Good morning, Democrats. Good night, GOP of Trump.”