The GOP Dominated by Trump's Legacy... "Politics of Destruction and Incitement"

Spreading Conspiracy Theories on Presidential Election Fraud and Government's Republican Wiretapping
Foreign Media: "The Line Between the Republican Party and Extreme Populism Becomes Blurred"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] “Republican lawmakers in the U.S. no longer even try to hide their extremist ideology.”

With next year’s midterm elections approaching, where all House members and one-third of Senate members will be elected, CNN assessed the recent movements of the U.S. Republican Party on the 9th (local time) as such.

This implies that although former President Donald Trump has left office, his right-wing populist legacy still exerts strong influence over the Republican Party.

A representative example that clearly shows this is Republican House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, also known as the “Trump in High Heels.” She recently sparked major controversy by comparing the Biden administration’s expanded vaccine mandate policy to the “Jewish Holocaust” under Nazi Germany.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican Member of the House of Representatives
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Even Kevin McCarthy, the top-ranking Republican in the House and the Republican House Minority Leader, condemned Greene’s Holocaust comparison as “horrific.”

Previously, Greene caused waves in U.S. politics by spreading various conspiracy theories such as “Jews started wildfires in space using lasers” and “the Parkland High School shooting was a staged event to promote gun control,” and ultimately suffered the humiliation of being expelled from House committees by fellow lawmakers in February.

The problem is that the number of Republican lawmakers who sympathize with her extremist claims is increasing. Recently, Republican House Representative Lauren Boebert also compared the government’s expanded vaccine mandate policy to Nazi policies.

Other Republican lawmakers have made extreme statements such as “the Democratic government is wiretapping our Republican lawmakers” and “we must induce maximum political chaos until the next midterm election to bring about the failure of the Biden administration.”

Foreign media especially analyzed that former President Trump’s continuous claims of election fraud since last year and his pandering to hardline supporters have led to the “Trumpization” of the Republican Party.

Not only Republican House members but also some Republican Senators like Josh Hawley expressed doubts about the election results and incited Trump supporters, which ultimately culminated in the unprecedented January 6 Capitol riot.

In response, major media outlets such as The Washington Post (WP) and The New York Times (NYT) used expressions like “act of treason,” “Trump-incited rebellion,” and “the collapse of American democracy,” showing shock, but the Republican Party ignored this and continued to defend President Trump. Furthermore, when Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House and Chair of the House Republican Conference, called for the impeachment of former President Trump, the Republican Party expelled her from her chairmanship, which was a decisive example of the Republican Party’s “Trump Party” transformation.

Kevin McCarthy, Republican House Majority Leader
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

Recently, foreign media evaluated that House Minority Leader McCarthy’s endorsement of Tucker Carlson, a pro-Trump Fox News host’s allegations of Biden administration wiretapping of Republicans, also starkly revealed the changes within the Republican Party.

On the 7th, McCarthy issued a statement reiterating these allegations and said, “We must protect the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.”

This shows that the Republican Party, the party to which former President Abraham Lincoln belonged and the legitimate heir of American conservative forces, has reached a point where the boundary with extreme populist forces has become blurred.

CNN reported, “The Republican Party is embodying Trump-style politics characterized by destruction and incitement,” and “the extremism spreading mainly among Republican House members threatens national unity.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.