In 2015 the Republican Party was put to the test and, it is a test that over time is has failed over and over again. It was after the 2016 election that I swore that I would never vote for another Republican again. Why? In my opinion, that is really when they lost sight of what America was and they would win at all cost. That was when the Republicans started to condemn any member that tried to think for themselves or have an opinion different than their leader. That was when the Party began to be more important than the Nation.  Every once in a while it is good to reflect what members of the Republican Party said when Donald J. Trump entered the picture.

In March of 2016, Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House said, “If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games. They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices.” This was after Trump’s refusal to denounce the KKK. Now fast forward to 2023 after Trump had seized control of the Republican Party. In Florida and other parts of the country we have entire elections based on bigotry. They call it “Woke” but woke according to the Dictionary is “aware and actively attentive to important facts and issues especially issues of racial and social justice” When you ban teaching of race and of slavery it isn’t anti-woke, it is bigotry. When you do away with diversity training and introduce anti-diversity legislation it is because if bigotry. When you go after corporations that support diversity training because it is important to their business you are just playing to people’s bigotry for power. I think it is pretty safe to say that what Paul Ryan said the Republican Party was not built on is exactly what it is built upon after Trump took control of the party.

In 2016 Marco Rubio said many things about Trump, “We are on the verge of having someone take over the conservative movement who is a con artist. He has spent a career sticking it to working people. This boiling point that we have now reached has been fed largely by the fact that we have a frontrunner in my party who has fed language that basically justifies physically assaulting people who disagree with you”. He also called Trump the most “vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency”. Since Trump has obtained the control of the Republican Party Rubio is of course singing a different tune. After Trump won the nomination that man that he knew as a con artist he now vowed to help get him elected. When Trump supporters tried to run the Biden campaign caravan off the road he praised their violent action.  He went from condemning the violence that Trump brought to the Party to praising the violence. He calls Trump taking the classified documents a storage issue. He showed that the Party of Trump was no longer a party that had any principles at all.

In 2016 Ted Cruz also had to say a lot about Trump. Ted called him, “Utterly amoral. This man is a pathological liar. He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. A narcissist at a level that I don’t think this country has ever seen. A serial philanderer”. Trump went on to have sex with a porn star while his wife was pregnant and then used campaign funds to pay her off. I have watched many campaigns in my lifetime but I had never heard a candidate insult another candidate’s wife until Trump insulted Ted Cruz’s wife. Ted Cruz went on to be one of Trump’s strongest allies and has fought like hell to help Trump sell the big lie. Was Ted Cruz lying in 2016? In my opinion Trump was proven to be all the things that Ted Cruz said he was. What Trump did was turn Cruz and most of the Republican Party into the same liar that Trump is.

Lindsey Graham was also very critical of Trump. He stated “the more you know about Donald Trump, the less likely you are to vote for him. The more you know about his business enterprises, the less successful he looks. The more you know about his political giving, the less Republican he looks. You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell. He’s a race baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for”. Here again you have to ask was Lindsey Graham lying? One of Lindsey Graham’s closest friends in the Senate was John McCain who Trump hated. Why did Trump hate Graham’s friend McCain? Because McCain stood up to Trump, McCain was a man with integrity. By appearances it looks like everything that Lindsey Graham said was accurate. Here again you have a person that went on to be one of Trump’s staunchest allies. He turned his back on the truth and wound up defending the lies. Donald Trump does not represent the values or lack of values of the Republican Party.  

Republicans, almost to the man, do not want Donald Trump prosecuted. The chant was lock her up when it was Hillary. Trump wanted Obama and Biden both indicted because of the investigation of Russian interference and collusion by the Trump campaign. If I remember properly a person actually went to jail from his campaign because of his dealing with the Russians. I think that there is more to the Russian story than meets the eye. I think that much of the truth is being held from the American public. Republicans seem to be great when they want to lock up the competition but just hint at holding them accountable they seem to go ballistic. A Branch of our Government was attacked by Domestic Terrorists while they were performing their Constitutional duty. The Domestic Terrorists were sent by the outgoing President of the United States Donald Trump. Their purpose was to put an unelected person in the White House which in fact would have destroyed our Republic as it is written in the Constitution. In my opinion this is one of the most serious crimes ever committed against our nation. Where is the outrage by the Patriotic Republicans? Some were outraged the next day but, almost to the man, they changed their tune and put the needs of the Republican Party before the needs of the Country.

They knew. They all knew what Trump was and they didn’t care. Their own personal power was more important than our Republic. How can I vote for that? Better question is how can you vote for that? I think that much of the nation knew what Trump really was. We are now looking at Republicans that thrive on the very racism that people like Paul Ryan condemned. We are now facing the very violence that Rubio once condemned. The call for divorce and more division is not a call for unity.