JAMELLE BOUIE
A Political Reckoning Will Come for Trump, Too
Dec. 11, 2024
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/opinion/trump-republican-party-cabinet.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Trump is less concerned here with the health of the Republican Party, less concerned with building out the next generation of Republican leaders, than he is with serving his narrowest interests. The Republican Party could wither and die, and Donald Trump would not care, provided it did not disrupt his ability to enrich himself and his family. This dynamic -- a president who does not care about his party -- sets up an interesting tension. What happens when the interests of the president and the interests of the party diverge?
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In the absence of Trump, would the Republican Party look like an entity that could build or mobilize anything like a working electoral majority? Even now, in this world, it is clear that the president-elect's appeal is distinct from that of his party; Republicans lost four Senate races in states that he won, and the party's House majority teeters on a knife's edge. All of this is made worse by Trump's indifference to party building, as well as his demands for loyalty. What is good for him -- paying his legal bills, for example -- may not be good for the ability of the party to succeed and win.
The weakness of the institutional Republican Party, the fragility of the Republican majorities and the volatility of Trump himself are a recipe for political instability and chaos. It all serves as a reminder that whenever Trump does leave the scene, he will probably leave behind a Republican Party that will struggle to find an identity outside his reach and influence.
Over on the other side, the Democratic Party is locked in an internal battle over what the party means outside of its opposition to Trump. It is searching for some kind of identity that will help it cohere as a coalition and rebuild its relationship to voters both inside and outside its walls. And insofar as the party's November defeat was useful, it was because it jump-started this process. The Republican Party is obviously not in the same place. But that is just a matter of happenstance. Its victory means only that it can escape its reckoning for now. There will be a time after Trump, and soon enough, Republicans will have to deal with what that means.