Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:08 pm
A GOP strategist warned that supporting Trump is “smearing the GOP with the reek of his excreta for decades.”
National Republican political strategist and media consultant Rick Wilson called Reince Priebus out today in an epic open letter, predicting that Priebus’ leadership will lead to decades of Trump branding problems, which would not end well for the party. Wilson wrote of the Republican party, “At this rate, there won’t be an autopsy at the end of this cycle; it’ll be a funeral pyre and a going-out-of-business sale.”
The takedown via Medium:
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You know this party is tearing itself apart because of Trump, and your continued public silence on his endless catalog of outrages isn’t some bold political strategy in the battle against Hillary Clinton; it’s smearing the GOP with the reek of his excreta for decades. At this rate, there won’t be an autopsy at the end of this cycle; it’ll be a funeral pyre and a going-out-of-business sale.
Wilson has been in a war with Breitbart, which has devoted itself to getting Trump elected, so this is not new. But how awkward for Reince Priebus to defend his presumptive nominee Donald Trump for using a racist Star of David image as an insult while at the same time honoring the death of Elie Wiesel. Priebus must know this is untenable.
We are all inspired by Elie Wiesel's quest for justice & his fight to preserve the dignity of all human beings. May he rest in peace
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) July 2, 2016
Wilson laid out the real problem. Priebus and his party do not have the courage to stand up to Donald Trump or his ugly use of racism:
In a perfect world, a bold and effective party chairman with an eye to November and the future brand of the Republican Party would tell Donald Trump he’s had every chance under the Sun to improve and become more disciplined. A bold chairman would draw a bright line at his continued, deliberate, mindful flirtation with the darkest corners of the Internet. Private pressure does nothing; Trump is a creature of the media cycle and of celebrity.
Wilson called it what it is; saying Donald Trump is using white resentment politics and that is all he is bringing to the table, a fact that would and should bother anyone who has an interest in the Republican Party branding:
Now, your digital team can tell you a quick way to stop this without too much fuss; have Trump block the neo-Nazis, anti-Semites, overt racists and other scum who litter his timeline.
You won’t, for fear of offending him. He won’t, for fear of offending his base. Under his “Taco Salad! I love the Jews! Look at my African-American!†bluster, he’s a crafty bastard who understands white resentment politics. They’re a feature, not a bug. They’re not part of his play; they’re his only play.
But worse than not having the spine to rein Trump in is the fact that Priebus is intimidating and silencing Republican delegates:
You’ve spent an awful lot of time and energy lately trying to intimidate and silence Republican delegates who are sickened by Trump’s behavior, terrified of the electoral disaster he may ensure and sickened by how far away he is pulling the party of Lincoln, Reagan and Coolidge from its conservative roots.
This is yet another sane voice from the Republican field. Unfortunately, if history is any guide, it will be ignored. Wilson will be attacked by Republicans as disloyal and worse. But he is telling the truth.
Many honorable people have tried to sound the alarms to no avail. The Republican party used to be a party with many admirable traits, and conservatism used to represent tradition in many ways. No more.
Conservatism is now a rabid, foaming, low-level, dysfunctional, raging racism. It’s hot with ignorance instead of staid with the authority of tradition.
Giving in to the Sarah Palin wing of the Republican party has destroyed the very things that conservatism offered. It no longer tempers change; instead it lights the fire of hate and burns as it governs, irrationally and destructively.
It used to be that we needed a balance between liberals and conservatives. But we can’t allow a balance between liberals and Neo-Nazis.
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