For a sick form of entertainment, there’s nothing like a demolition derby, where drivers hop into their beat-up old cars purely for the fun of crashing into each other. But, while fun to watch, it makes you wonder why anyone would want to take part in it.
Which is exactly like the 2024 Republican presidential primary. There are 10 candidates so far in their own demolition party, each apparently bent on a mission to destroy themselves, but only after destroying the Republican Party in the process.
In their zeal to capture the nomination by appealing to the most extreme elements of their base, Republicans are upending much of what the traditional Republican Party once stood for.
Take last weekend’s cattle call in Iowa. Sponsored by the evangelical organization Family Leader as an opportunity for Republican candidates to show off their conservative credentials, host Tucker Carlson instead turned the forum into a test on Ukraine — pressuring each candidate in turn to stand up against U.S. support for Ukraine.
It’s hard enough to understand why evangelicals would take sides with Russia against the United States, NATO and Ukraine, but is this really what the Republican Party wants to run on in 2024? If so, when did the party of Ronald Reagan become the party of Vladimir Putin?
Of course, that’s not the only example of Republicans turning on the Pentagon. For months, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has maintained a one-man blockade against military promotions — more than 250 so far — unless the Pentagon drops its policy of providing time off and travel costs to servicewomen, no matter where they are stationed, to seek an abortion.
The demand was added by Republicans to the House version of this year’s proposed Pentagon budget. Because, in their view, overturning Roe v. Wade did not go far enough.
In an open letter, seven former Defense secretaries warned that Tuberville’s antics threaten national security and undermine our military readiness. But Republicans have refused to budge. When did the traditional pro-Armed Forces Republican Party become the anti-Pentagon Republican Party?
It’s not just the military that’s targeted by many Republicans. On several fronts, they’ve gone after law enforcement in general. They hail those who stormed the Capitol and assaulted police officers on Jan. 6 as patriots. If reelected, the Republican frontrunner has suggested he’d issue many of them presidential pardons. Twenty-one House Republicans voted against awarding police officers who defended them on Jan. 6 the Congressional Gold Medal.
And last week, Washington witnessed an eye-popping spectacle as the Republican-controlled House held a special Judicial Committee aimed at FBI Director Christopher Wray — a lifelong Republican, appointed by Donald Trump — whom Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has accused of “weaponizing” the FBI against Trump and other GOP leaders.
One by one, Republicans attacked Wray, with some of them supporting legislation to defund the FBI by $1 billion. It’s enough to make J. Edgar Hoover roll over in his grave. When did the law and order party of Richard Nixon become the anti-law enforcement party?
Admittedly, it’s early in the 2024 sweepstakes. But based on the issues they’ve focused on so far, the Republican Party seems to be telling American voters: We’re the party who doesn’t think overturning Roe v. Wade went far enough. We’re the party that supports Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. We’re the party that’s injecting culture war politics into the military. And we’re the party willing to attack law enforcement officers for doing their job.
Welcome to the 2024 GOP demolition derby.
Press hosts “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”