A former Stanislaus GOP leader, now disillusioned, unleashes on Trump

I am a former vice chair of the Republican Party of Stanislaus County. I volunteered and worked in GOP politics for over 10 years. I fiercely fought for GOP candidates, even those I felt were too moderate. I helped plan events and collected checks from wealthy farmers and businessmen who would complain about illegals and then hire them.

After leaving Stanislaus politics, I continued to support GOP candidates. In 2016 I walked precincts and made phone calls for Ted Cruz, the actual conservative and best candidate for the presidential nomination. So when I say that President Donald Trump is not a conservative and uses wink-nod racism to galvanize every dropout racist in America for his purposes, it is not without long-term reflection. He likes the dog whistle — “thugs, murderers and rapists,” “good people on both sides,” etc.

Some, like Ted Howze, talk with little veneer on social media about their feelings toward anyone not like them, then cowardly say it was a hacker. Trump prefers to make incendiary remarks, then accuse people of misunderstanding, or to accuse the media of taking it out of context. This is a classic communist tactic — push, then retreat slightly, then push.

Ronald Reagan was relentlessly attacked by the press, yet remained focused. He told Mr. Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” and he brought out the best in this nation.

President George W. Bush vowed, “Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” For two terms, he was vilified and threatened with impeachment. Yet he remained focused and on May 2, 2011, justice was done.

But at every turn and with every crisis, Trump makes divisive un-American comments intertwined with obligatory admonitions against evil, when he could make unifying comments.

As the country soul-searches because a naziesque cop murdered a man in handcuffs on the ground, Trump calls protesters “thugs.” Then the clarification — he meant looters only. Wink. Nod. Push, retreat slightly. Then he channels Walter Headley, who’s busy rotting in hell: “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” As Americans turn against Trump, he shows early signs of panic. He’s moved on to more overt racism, retweeting geriatric racist parades in Florida.

For Republican voters who defend the principles of freedom embodied by Lincoln, it is time to admit that you cannot support Trump any longer.

We get it: his policies are great. Everything was humming with historic employment rates, stock market values, and production until the Wuhan pneumonia paused the world. He did a great job on the China stare-down and even tried to thaw relations with the North Koreans. The trains ran on time.

Issues are not equal and his leadership is not absent. It is focused and purposefully inciting. It is not the leadership of an American. It is the leadership of a bigot. You know this. He flirts with treason.

If you’re a Republican voter and you’re tired of your stomach aching because your party has become the party of an orange, fat George Wallace, don’t wait for him to commit overt treason. Don’t vote for him in November. Pick another candidate or skip the office.

I will. This will be the first time in 30 years. And I will sleep well at night.

If you’re a Republican leader, stop excusing Trump for every weird, out-of-place, bitter, angry middle-child thing he says, like accusing a talk show host of murder, or saying a 75 year-old protester fell too hard. Besides, Trump didn’t win in 2016; he lost the least, in a two-candidate clown show.

Republican leaders know it’s not about Trump’s policies or the Russia hoax. He’s a crazy person.

Speak up. Be a leader. You owe it to Lincoln, to the abolitionists, the patriots, the idealists. Your country is far more important than Trump. Divorce him as he has divorced your party, and certainly the spirit of Lincoln.

It’s OK; you will still be a conservative or moderate or whatever. You will have simply resumed being a responsible American. And you will sleep well at night.

This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.