USA TODAY International Edition
Republican leaders, it’s time to dump Trump
Every once in a while, Ameri- ca’s political leaders are confronted with a risk that doesn’t come from enemies abroad, tragedies at home or even the bad ideas of their political opponents. The risk rises from within their own party. History recognizes the statesmen who put country first.
Republican Sen. Howard Baker is remembered in Watergate for showing a power- abusing President Nixon the door. Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt’s own vice president, John Nance Garner, is remembered for standing tall against FDR’s plan to pack the Supreme Court.
Now is the time for GOP leaders to choose how they will be remembered. Confronted with audio tape of presidential nominee Donald Trump bragging about attempted adultery and sexual assault, dozens of leaders have abandoned him, including 2008 nominee John McCain, other senators and governors from across the country.
According to a USA TODAY Network survey, 26% of Republican governors and members of Congress refuse to endorse Trump. Good for them. But what about the other 74%?
This should not be a difficult call. Before the Access Hollywood tape was leaked, the real Donald Trump was clear. There were the attacks on Hispanics and Muslims, a decades- long record of contempt for women, a trail of lawsuits sparked by Trump’s efforts to stiff small businesses, a half- dozen bankruptcies, and a tendency to compliment himself on the size of his manhood.
Despite all this, some of the party’s most senior leaders remain at the real estate mogul’s side, among them Speaker of the House Paul Ryan — attempting to denounce Trump’s sickening words while not withdrawing their endorsements — and a shrinking cadre of officials, such as Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who continue to back Trump while awaiting the next humiliating revelation.
Republicans need to think be- yond the next four weeks to the viability of their party.
Many GOP political leaders and average voters still stand by Trump out of the fear that Hillary Clinton could cement a liberal majority on the Supreme Court that would block Republican policy victories on abortion, gay marriage and the scope of government. That’s understandable, but it’s also why Trump’s character is so important. The former Democrat now leading the GOP ticket has changed positions on nearly two dozen political issues just during his campaign. There is little reason to believe that Trump stands for anything other than a desire to expand his wealth and power.
And what about Christian conservatives? That people of faith should abide a man who has committed every sin in the book — greed, lust, adultery, wrath and spite, to name a few — in the name of public policy sounds like a plot to undermine religion by subordinating it to politics.
Republicans considering their next move should think of an answer to the question they will face when voters ask where they stood when Trump embarked on his scorched earth rampage. It’s a good bet that “cravenly calculating the most expedient action while undermining everything I have stood for in public service” won’t wash.