Opinion by Julian Zelizer
Updated 8:16 AM ET, Mon June 15, 2020
(CNN)Breaking news: Republicans might finally be willing to break with President Donald Trump. Following the president’s performance with Covid-19 as well as his response to the Black Lives Matters protests there have been a number of stories speculating about whether the GOP will finally come undone.
The drama is greatly exaggerated. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters that she is “struggling” to figure out how to vote in November … When Colin Powell announced that he would support Joe Biden and former president George W. Bush revealed he would not support Trump, the New York Times reporters a “growing number” of Republicans were debating how far to go.
The speculation about internal handwringing and possible “turning points” within the GOP never ends. It’s the drama that never happens, but one the press loves to keep following.
It needs to stop. The notion that there is a major fissure between the Republicans and President Trump simply masks the character of the modern party. Republicans nominated and elected Donald Trump to be President four years ago. They have stood by him, and done so even in the toughest of times. Nothing, even his “fine people” remarks after a 2017 white supremacist march in Charlottesville or his recent hardline response to mass marches over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police, shakes this.
When we look at President Trump we see the modern party before our very eyes. Stories about internal division mask this basic reality and suggest that there are greater options outside the Democratic Party than actually exist.
Continued
Jeff in Charlotte
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/14/opinions/republican-gop-trump-election-zelizer/index.html