GOP has become a cult of personality

It was called the Republican National Convention, but in fact, it had nothing to do with the GOP most of us once knew. Gone were the party’s serious policy debates and platform planks. In their place was a celebration of Donald Trump, who has succeeded in converting one of the country’s two major parties into a cult of personality. When it ended, the delegates sent a ticket into the presidential election with no true Republicans on it.

The death of the old GOP was signaled at the start of the week when Trump chose the chameleon J.D. Vance as his running mate. Four years ago, Vance called Trump “cultural heroin” and a man “who encourages the worst in people.” Then, as he campaigned for the Senate, Vance followed his lifelong mentor Peter Thiel into a meeting with Trump and emerged with his endorsement. Next, Thiel poured $15 million into Vance’s race, which propelled him to victory. The result? Another politician, like Trump, who is devoted to nothing but the pursuit of power. In fact, he has already said he would try to overturn the 2028 election if it doesn’t turn out the way he wants.

Thiel is worth a mention because he leads a cadre of Silicon Valley billionaires who have gone all-in for Trump. They believe he will free them from the modest constraints placed on them by the government (taxes) and society (public anxiety about technology). The influential Thiel has said, “I no longer believe freedom and democracy are compatible.” This belief is shared by those who consider themselves this era’s masters of the universe but are afraid to say so out loud.

With the choice of Vance, Trump indicated that he has no concern about appeasing the old-style GOPers, who would have been reassured if he had chosen a Marco Rubio or a Tim Scott as a running mate. Rubio (2011) and Scott (2013) have served in the Senate long enough to understand the party’s grand ol’ history and traditions and might have drawn voters outside of Trumpworld. Instead, with Vance, Trump has given us someone so extreme he has said, “…we’re going to have to get pretty wild, and pretty far out there, and go in directions that a lot of conservatives right now are uncomfortable with.”

Further evidence that the convention was dominated by extremists came when Trump’s former White House advisor Peter Navarro raced to appear at the podium just hours after his release from federal prison. Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the plot to overturn the 2020 election. (I was a member of the committee). In the pugnacious spirit of the convention, where grievance flowed like water, Navarro characterized himself as a political prisoner. In a rant filled with falsehoods, he riled up the crowd by saying, “I’ve got a very simple message for you. If they can come for me, and if they can come for Donald Trump, be careful. They will come for you.”

Because it is now the Trump Party, the crowd in Milwaukee lapped up Navarro’s message of fear which, after all, is the gateway to rage. Few noticed that, contrary to tradition, past Republican leaders – former President Bush, past nominee Mitt Romney, and former Vice President Dan Quayle – were all absent.

For his part, Trump accepted his party’s nomination with his usual narcissism, speaking for a record 90 minutes, delivering too many lies to count. Brief references to unity were followed by ominous statements borrowed from his incoherent stump speeches. No one in the convention hall seemed to care that this was warmed-over stuff; not an address designed to inspire.

I won’t hide the fact that I grieve the old GOP and fear the cult of Trump. I am equally concerned, though, by Democrats who are shrinking from the fight, concluding that Trump’s election is inevitable. I would say that given a remnant of traditional Republicans remains, and independents must be turned off by a Trump who wants to be emperor. It’s time to gather our courage and energy. The fight against him is not lost.