Republicans need to stop playing innocent about Trump

From the anonymous New York Times intelligencer to openly urging each other to change their opinions to win elections, more and more Republican heads are stepping out to say they are, in fact, aware that Donald Trump is not merely controversial, but a truly hazardous threat to American democracy who shouldn’t be in the oval office.

By essentially parroting the sentiments that other party leaders, and even celebrities, were cautioning about Trump months to years before the 2016 primaries, Republicans in 2018 are suddenly trying hard to separate their party’s image from the man they wreathed in support in 2016. The popular theory for this about-face is that they are losing a lot of voters. It appears there is a problem in the Republican party, and it does not take a political science guru to suspect it’s their alignment with the most unpopular president in US history.

I wish I could commend these Republican leaders for “breaking across party lines,” and “resisting,” (even if it’s not “liberal resistance” — there are six synonyms for “resist” in Merriam Webster, yet Anonymous titles his patronizing op-ed against Trump with same name as the iconic liberal movement — and insists they are not related. OK.) I am have trouble commending these bravehearts.

Let’s not forget: Trump could have run as an independent. He did not. The Republican party put Trump on the ballot. The Republican party funded Trump’s campaign. The Republican party cooked Trump up and served him to America on a big, glittering “make it great again” platter. Make no mistake, he was sanctioned, supported and served by a large majority of Republican leaders.

How about instead of these talking points on how Trump is unfit for his role, Republicans look inward at these numerous, ostensibly intelligent people in their party who ever thought this man — who was just as unstable in 2013 as he is today — was a good idea. I’m not talking about voters. I’m talking about the accountable GOP leaders who heard what Donald Trump had to say and said “welcome aboard, friend.”

Yes, it’s true that a handful of Republicans have been opposed to Trump since the primaries (such as John McCain and Christine Todd Whitman). But most of us have been exhausted with the truth for over two years now. I, for one, don’t have the energy to applaud these “sudden” GOP enlightenments. The information about Donald Trump’s mental instability, boorishness, and broad lack of respect for the American democratic process has been available since before the election; no reasonably intelligent Republican leader is just realizing he is a gravely violent threat to everything America stands for. These sudden call-outs are disingenuous ploys to save the party’s face.

I ask Republican leaders: stop saying he’s bad. We know he’s bad. Most of us have known this for some time. Start saying sorry for your mistake, and maybe you’ll reclaim some of the thousands of voters you’re hemorrhaging with each passing day he’s in office — because you put him there.