Dr. Rashad Richey National TV Political Analyst, Talk Radio Host, Univ. Prof.
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Opinion

What happens to the Republican Party after Trump?

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Dr. Rashad Richey National TV Political Analyst, Talk Radio Host, Univ. Prof.
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Following the Republican National Convention, two attempted assassinations and the selection of JD Vance as his VP, the Republican Party continues to rally around former President Donald Trump, even as he attempts to shift the party’s agenda to align with his own. For example, while the party has traditionally supported a national abortion ban, Trump recently stated in a debate that this decision should be left to individual states.

But what happens when Donald Trump is no longer a central figure within the Republican Party? In the video above, Straight Arrow News contributor Dr. Rashad Richey considers whether the conservative movement will fully embrace the MAGA agenda or pivot in a direction that could push them farther to the Left.


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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

And it should be no secret Donald Trump is not what he said he is. He’s not a Christian evangelical. He is not a conservative. Politically, he’s not a Democrat. He’s a moneycrat. [He] takes advantage, exploits, he’s looking for the opportunity in order to make himself more powerful. His real ideology, his real ideological leaning, is that of power, but so is Elon Musk and others who subscribe to this ridiculous movement known as MAGA, Make America Great Again. 

You know what MAGA really stands for? Make Attorneys Get Attorneys. Every point you look at Donald Trump, what he touches ends up corrupting, from his allies to his attorneys, from Mayor Rudy Giuliani to General Flynn and more — Steve Bannon.

You know, there was a time you marked a leader based on their ability to make other leaders. President Obama made other leaders. Biden has made other leaders. There are people that met Biden. He was a senator. Now they are, well, doing very well in their careers. Trump, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. So when is this great, genius businessman going to deliver? He didn’t even prepare for the debate. 

So what happens? Because at a point, Trump will not be the factor in the conservative movement. So what happens? Who becomes the heir apparent? Will you allow a personality to shrink your politics? And the only reason why Trump has to shrink everything around him to fit him is because he was never up for the job to expand his capacity. 

You know, a question, among Republicans in particular is, what happens after Donald Trump is no longer a political issue inside of the ranks, 

 

does the Republican Party bounce back to, I don’t know, some sense of normalcy, if we could say, 

 

does the conservative movement decide to embrace this Maga agenda, which, by the way, is really only held by a minority of the conservative movement, or do they pivot in a way that actually moves them farther to the left? 

 

Well, this is going to be an interesting dynamic, because if you look at the individuals who are running the party now, you basically have people who really are not ideological as it relates to conservative politics. 

 

They’re not ideologically conservative. They’re not Republicans.

 

 It was Donald Trump’s own son who said there’s no Republican Party anymore. All you have now is Maga. Well, what is Maga? What does Maga stand for? What’s the policy of Maga? 

 

Where you really can’t define it so much so that when Trump was at the Republican National Convention, he strong armed the committee to get rid of many of their exacting policy platforms inside of their written charter. 

 

Why? Because he doesn’t want to be defined by a policy. He wants to be defined by power, by proxy of power rather than actual policy. 

 

Don’t hold him accountable to a policy, because if you hold him accountable to policy, you then hold him accountable to an agenda. 

 

And it should be no secret, Donald Trump is not what he said he is. He’s not a Christian evangelical. He is not a conservative. Politically, he’s not a Democrat. He’s a moneycrat. 

 

Takes advantage exploits He’s looking for the opportunity in order to make himself more powerful. 

 

His real ideology, his real ideological leaning, is that of power, 

 

but so is Elon Musk and others who subscribe to this ridiculous movement known as Maga, make America great again. 

 

You know what Maga really stands for? Make attorneys. Get attorneys. 

 

Every point you look at Donald Trump What he touches ends up corrupting, from his allies to his attorneys, from Mayor Rudy Giuliani

to General Flynn 

 

and more Steve Bannon, 

 

you know, there was a time you marked a leader based on their ability to make other leaders. 

 

President Obama made other leaders. Biden has made other leaders. There are people that met Biden He was a senator. Now they are well, doing very well in their careers. 

 

Trump, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. So when is this great, genius businessman going to deliver? 

 

He didn’t even prepare for the debate. 

 

So what happens? Because at a point, Trump will not be the factor in the conservative movement. 

 

So what happens, who becomes the heir apparent? Will you allow a personality to shrink your politics? 

 

And the only reason why Trump has to shrink everything around him to fit him is because he was never up for the job to expand his capacity. 

 

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