Can The Republican Party Survive Trump?

Donald Trump's presidency wasn't something that most people expected to ever see in their lives. He was considered to be a satirical candidate by many, and his victory over Senator Hillary Clinton shocked the world. And, despite the many outlandish claims and promises he has made, it seems like Trump is legitimately trying to make good on at least some of the promises he's made.

For Republicans, having Trump as president working alongside a Republican congress should be a dream come true. However, reality is turning out to be quite different from the theory itself.

Rather than unify the country and the Republican party as Trump has promised, his presidency has become rocked by scandals, potential treason, and the approval of some of the most despised bills in American history.

Now, people are beginning to wonder whether or not Republican politicians will be able to survive the Trump presidency. Signs are pointing to "NO," and if you look at the signs, it's very clear that the GOP will be far weaker than it is now in the next four years.

Russian Ties With Trump: Treason?

Perhaps the biggest issue that is being raised by media, politicians, and pundits alike would have to be the increasingly large pile of evidence that suggests that Russia may have used Trump as a pawn to increase their influence in the West.

Mounting evidence includes a large amount of communications dating back before his presidency with Russian officials, large amounts of money being donated from Russian companies, as well as a dossier that details his meetings with spies.

News stories have also noted that Russian spies have worked to try to recruit another would-be spy by the name of Carter Page before they had met up with Trump. Currently, multiple investigations are underway to discover what the ties really are like.

If Russia indeed recruited Donald Trump for covert use, then they pulled off one of the most involved, successful international operations in modern history. This would mean that Trump is a "puppet president," and that he has committed an act of treason.

Treason itself is an impeachable offense - and also one of the only nonviolent crimes that carries a potential death penalty in the United States. Should it be found that Trump was bought by Russia, the Republican party will forever have the dishonor of being the first political party to have a president that was basically hired by another country to rule.

To make matters worse, it is clear that investigations are being stifled by congress and the White House, with many Republican members being implicated with evidence of bribery from abroad. This suggests crime at very high levels of government, and a conscious effort of an entire political party to avoid it coming out to the public.

That alone would make many voters reconsider voting Republican again.

Unpopular Policies Among Both Republicans And Democrats

It almost seems as if there's an unpopular bill being signed into law every single day - and the culprits are almost always Republicans these days. The following are some of only a handful of bills that have been attempted to be signed into law by Republicans, and you may notice that most of them are disliked by Republicans and Democrats alike...

• Trump's Internet Privacy Bill. This bill was signed into law a while ago, and could potentially allow internet providers to sell your internet browsing data to advertisers and companies. It's been called an affront to internet privacy, and around 75 percent of Republican voters hated it. Despite the public outcry, the bill was passed into law.
• The Obamacare Repeal. The bill that was attempted by Trump caused a massive schism among the Republican party due to the fact that it would be more expensive than Obamacare was, and because it would hurt every industry imaginable. The attempted repeal caused a huge fracture in the party, which in turn caused the bill to fail.
• The Global Gag Rule. This rule, which was reinstated by Trump, will increase the number of illegal abortions in developing countries.
• Gag Orders On Major Public Interests. Trump instated gag orders on the park system, USDA, and other major public interest groups. After a public outcry, the gag order on the USDA was rescinded.
• Defunding Amtrak. Over 220 cities throughout the country loss mass transit trains because of Trump's federal budget cuts.
• Attacks On Planned Parenthood. Among women voters, the Republican party has become synonymous with anti-choice measures, defunding women's healthcare, and working to silence female voters. Even a large percentage of Republican women are noticeably worried about their healthcare at this point.

Too many unpopular bills can spell the death of the Republican party, if only because they are alienating the very people who voted for them in the first place.

Schisms In The Party

Abraham Lincoln once said that "a house divide cannot stand," and nothing illustrates this point better than watching Republicans in action these days. Though the Republican party controls congress and the White House, it's becoming blatantly obvious that there are major divides in the party - and it's affecting their ability to govern.

It's pretty clear that there were major divides going on within the party during a number of major scandals, and more holes continue to get spotted every day. The following scandals really illustrate this point well:

• The Trumpcare Debacle. One of Trump's main running points is that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with something better. When the time actually came to act, the replacement bill was so unpopular, and so terrible, that Republicans actually voted against it. The bill's failure was marked as a disgrace - and Republicans were lost on who to put the blame on.
• Rapid Firings Of Cabinet Members And Council Members. Many former Republican darlings have been ousted from positions at a breakneck speed, including Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn.
• Trump Versus McCain. With the increasing number of public arguments Donald Trump had with Senator John McCain, it's clear that there's a major divide on how public and foreign policy should be handled. McCain's policy rift with Trump has gotten to the point that he has even warned fellow Republicans against "going nuclear" during a filibuster against Supreme Court justice nominate Gorsuch.
• Republicans And Russia. You know it's getting bad when former Trump advisors have met with Russians, and openly admitted it.

Simply put, Republicans are turning on one another in record numbers - and it's no longer just Trump. Whether they like it or not, Republicans are getting dragged down alongside him.

Party Abandonment

Perhaps the most damning evidence that we're witnessing the death of the GOP is the large scale party abandonment by both politicians and voters alike.

Among voters, many former Republican voters are coming forth to say that they are now going to be voting Democrat because the can no longer recognize the party they once loved. A number of former Republicans also said that they felt "betrayed by the party" or left behind as the party morphed. They aren't alone, and those votes are now going to Democratic candidates.

But, it's not only voters that are running to the left. Former GOP State Representative Beth Fukumoto of Hawaii had also left, saying that she no longer feels comfortable with the Republican title due to the rampant sexism and racism coming into play.

More recently, it has been happening on the state level in New Jersey, where three Republican mayors have switched to being independent candidates after repeated rows with the county party heads.

The Party Is Over

Considering the party abandonment and the massive actions against its own voters, it's plain for everyone to see that the Republican party isn't going to last for much longer - and we have Trump to thank for it.