Prologue 1: Unprecedented Opposition From Own Party

“Trumpism: Why Traditional Republicans Should Withdraw Support” © Tom Ersin 2022. This is the current installment from the serialized publication of this distinctive historical book.

Prologue 1: Unprecedented Opposition From Own Party

Federal Prosecutors

“‘Each of us [1,000 former federal prosecutors who have signed this letter, as of May 30, 2019,] believes that the conduct of President Trump described in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice,’ the former federal prosecutors wrote. ‘We emphasize that these are not matters of close professional judgment. … [T]o look at these facts and say that a prosecutor could not probably sustain a conviction for obstruction of justice — the standard set out in Principles of Federal Prosecution — runs counter to logic and our experience.’”

(Zapotosky, Matt; “Trump Would Have Been Charged With Obstruction Were He Not President, Hundreds of Former Federal Prosecutors Assert”; The Washington Post; 5/6/2019.)

Legal experts and DOJ observers say the number of signatories would have been much higher had then-current Justice Department prosecutors been able to speak freely without fear of losing their jobs.

Anti-Trump Republican Luminaries (partial list)

This is but a partial list of traditional Republicans, including many hardcore conservatives such as Liz and Dick Cheney, Bill Kristol, and George Will, who have determined that Trump, the man, and Trumpism, the manifesto, are dangerous to American democracy and have no place in the GOP or elected office:

Al Cardenas — political consultant, commentator
Ana Navarro — political consultant, commentator
Barbara Bush — fmr. first lady
Bill Kristol — political consultant, commentator
Bill Weld — fmr. governor (Mass.)
Bob Corker — fmr. senator (Tenn.)
Carlos Curbelo — fmr. U.S. representative (Fla.)
Charlie Sykes — political commentator
Christine Todd Whitman — fmr. EPA administrator (George W. Bush), fmr. governor (N.J.)
Colin Powell — fmr. secretary of state (George W. Bush), fmr. Joint Chiefs chair (George H. W. Bush)
Dan Senor — political consultant
David Brooks — author, political commentator
David Frum — political consultant, commentator
Dick Cheney — fmr. vice president (George W. Bush), fmr. U.S. representative (Wyo.)
Elise Jordan — political consultant, commentator
Evan McMullin — fmr. CIA operations officer, fmr. presidential candidate
George T. Conway III — top Washington, D.C., attorney, spouse of Kellyanne (top Trump aide)
George H. W. Bush — fmr. president
George W. Bush — fmr. president
George Will — author, political commentator
Jeb Bush — fmr. governor (Fla.)
Jeff Flake — fmr. senator (Ariz.)
Jennifer Rubin — political commentator
Joe Scarborough — political commentator, fmr. U.S. representative (Fla.)
John Kasich — fmr. governor (Ohio)
John McCain — fmr. senator (Ariz.)
John Podhoretz — political commentator
Justin Amash — U.S. representative (Mich.)
Laura Bush — fmr. first lady
Liz Cheney — U.S. representative (Wyo.), No. 3 in House Republican leadership
Mark Sanford — fmr. U.S. representative (S.C.), fmr. governor (S.C.)
Max Boot — military historian, political commentator
Mia Love — fmr. U.S. representative (Utah)
Michael Steel — political consultant, commentator
Michael S. Steele — fmr. RNC chair, political consultant, commentator
Mike Murphy — political consultant, commentator
Mitt Romney — senator (Utah), fmr. governor (Mass.)
Nicolle Wallace — political consultant, commentator
Richard Painter — fmr. chief White House ethics lawyer (George W. Bush)
Rick Wilson — political consultant, commentator
Sophia A. Nelson — political consultant, commentator
Steve Schmidt — political consultant, commentator
Stuart Stevens — political consultant, commentator
Susan Del Percio — political consultant, commentator
Thomas Friedman — author, political commentator
Tom Coleman — fmr. U.S. representative (Mo.)
William Milliken — fmr. governor (Mich.)

Generals

On June 1, 2020, President Trump ordered militant federal police action to be used against legally, peacefully protesting citizens of his own country, then threatened to escalate those attacks. Since that time, Mr. Trump’s record of leadership has been excoriated by a dozen-plus current or retired three- and four-star generals including John R. Allen, Martin Dempsey, Joseph Dunford, Michael Hayden, John Kelly, Douglas Lute, James Mattis, Barry McCaffrey, Stanley McChrystal, H. R. McMaster, William McRaven, Mark Milley, Michael Mullen, David Petraeus, and Colin Powell. This list includes several former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairs and various Cabinet secretaries.

Gen. Mark Milley, current Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, later apologized for appearing at Trump’s June 1 Bible photo op — to prepare for which, peaceful protesters were tear-gassed, shoved down with shields, bombarded with flash-bang shells, and fired upon with rubber bullets — saying he “never should have been there.”

Retired four-star Marine Corp Gen. John R. Allen, former commander of the NATO International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, said Trump’s use of federal force against peaceful citizens “may well signal the beginning of the end of the American experiment.”

Gen. James Mattis, former Trump Secretary of Defense:

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy … but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.”

(Mattis, James, former [Trump] secretary of defense, retired four-star Marine Corp general; letter to The Atlantic; as cited in Goldberg, Jeffrey; “James Mattis Denounces President Trump, Describes Him as a Threat to the Constitution”; The Atlantic; 6/3/2020.)

Gen. John Kelly, former Trump White House chief of staff:

“We need to look infinitely harder at who we elect to any office in our land — at the office-seeker’s character, at their morals, at their ethical record, their integrity, their honesty, their flaws, what they have said about women, and minorities, why they are seeking office in the first place, and only then consider the policies they espouse.”

(Kelly, John, Gen., former [Trump] White House chief of staff, former [Trump] Department of Homeland Security secretary; statement issued to CNN reporter Jim Acosta; 1/7/2021.)

Former Government Officials, Staff

Consider the pronouncements of former Republican administration high-level appointees and legislators who declared their opposition to Trumpism before the 2020 election:

— 230-plus former members of President George W. Bush’s (R-Texas) administration

— 70-plus former national security officials of various Republican administrations

— 500 former Cabinet secretaries, generals, admirals, senior NCOs, ambassadors, and senior civilian national security leaders of both parties

— 100 former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) staffers

— 30 former Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) aides

— 400 average Republican and former Trump voters who declared their opposition in video statements.

Not Your Father’s GOP 

For those traditional Republicans who possibly haven’t paid close enough attention, here’s the crux of the biscuit (— thanks to Frank Zappa): Trumpism is not your father’s Grand Old Party. Today’s GOP is not the party of Presidents George W. Bush or George H. W. Bush, or Senators John McCain or Mitt Romney, all of whom opposed Donald Trump’s administration. Their brand of Republicanism comprised conservative policies I did not agree with but still could respect. Those leaders and their supporters still respected the principles of democracy and rule of law; they still cared about what’s best for America, its allies, and humanity.

Trumpism does not respect those things. Trumpism has been denounced by an unprecedented number — hundreds, thousands — of former legislators, former DOJ prosecutors and staff, and myriad other luminaries — of Donald Trump’s own party. The list includes presidents, senators, and the most brilliant of party strategists and thought leaders. This has never happened before.

Trump and his policies have been castigated by well over a dozen three- and four-star generals, many of whom formerly served under President Trump — they saw the dysfunction and depravity firsthand. Almost all of these never before have declared a political preference.

Traditional Republicans, maybe you’ve been busy. Maybe you tuned out. Maybe you’ve determined no president could have been as bad as the reports say. But you must take a closer look. Your party has changed. It’s become the party of Donald Trump, with all the accompanying destructive antidemocratic forces.

Traditional Republicans with integrity have been pushed out of leadership or excommunicated from the party. They’ve become Independents or members of the GOP diaspora.

Trumpism is not your father’s Republican Party.■

[Tom Ersin has been a full-time professional writer and editor since 2010 and holds degrees in communications and counseling. He’s a long-time political observer and has written a half-dozen nonfiction books on 21st century U.S. politics.] Click here to purchase book. Please leave a rating.