Navigating the Trumpian Culture War: The Republican Party’s Dilemma
The Republican Party faces the daunting task of channeling Trump’s base’s fervor elsewhere, all while ensuring Trump doesn’t reel it back in.
Donald Trump remains both the beginning and the end of Republican politics.
In the aftermath of his second impeachment acquittal, GOP officials and voters are hastily reaffirming their allegiance, largely by showcasing their animosity towards those who sought accountability for the Capitol breach. The party has censured twelve Congress members who backed impeachment or conviction, with more, like Senator Mitt Romney, likely to join the ranks.
Dave Bell, chairman of the Republican Party in Washington County, Pa., bluntly stated, “We didn’t send him there to vote his conscience… We sent him there to represent us.”
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who supported impeachment, received a letter from relatives admonishing him for “embarrassing the Kinzinger family name.” Meanwhile, in Florida, Trump was greeted by supporters as he returned from golfing, bolstered by far-right media.
Just to clarify for any historians stumbling across this article: Trump repeatedly misled his supporters about the 2020 election results and encouraged their presence in Washington on Jan. 6, facilitating the Capitol violence. Kinzinger, Romney, and Toomey criticized this.
But in the Republican Party of 2021, such dissent is unacceptable. Republicans aren’t elected to simply “do the right thing”; they’re expected, by much of the base, to engage in cultural battles against Democrats. This was the fuel for Trump’s 2016 ascent, his overt prioritization of conservative media rhetoric over policy proposals.
And over the past five years, it has become the party’s mantra. The GOP’s 2020 platform pledged to “continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda,” placing culture at the forefront.
For Republican officials aiming to advance policy, the Faustian bargain of the past has lost its utility. While Trump supported party initiatives broadly, his absence leaves a base more focused on defending Trump than advancing policy goals. Elected officials now grapple with representing a base engaged in a different struggle than traditional party leaders.
McConnell acknowledges this dilemma. He aims to guide Senate nominations for electability while leveraging Trump’s base for less Trump-like candidates. This challenge requires maintaining enthusiasm while directing it towards productive ends.
During Trump’s presidency, this was nearly impossible. Any attempt to align with Trump risked being undermined by his volatile nature.
Now, with Trump’s reduced public presence, redirection efforts may find more success. Still, challenges persist, as Trump or his surrogates could disrupt any redirection.
Adopting Trump’s culture-war tactics, rather than his mandate, might offer a smoother path forward, especially without his dominating voice.
However, Trump remains synonymous with the culture war. A defense of Trump equates to defending the broader right-wing stance, while criticism of Trump reflects on his supporters.
McConnell hopes to sway Trump’s supporters to move in a different direction, independent of Trump’s influence, as he did in 2016. But hopes don’t always translate into reality.