GOP represents 'most significant threat to basic constitutionalism since Civil War': historian

"The MAGA takeover of the Republican Party is complete," New York Times contributing writer Peter Wehner emphasizes in a Sunday, March 10 op-ed.

Following the former president's GOP nomination win over ex-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley last week, Wehner warns that "there's nothing" Donald Trump "won't do" during a second presidency, and that "it’s up to the rest of us to keep him from doing it."

The Trinity Form senior fellow emphasizes "the next 34 weeks are among the more consequential in the life of this nation. Mr. Trump was a clear danger in 2016; he’s much more of a danger now. The former president is more vengeful, more bitter and more unstable than he was, which is saying something. There would be fewer guardrails and more true believers in a second Trump term."

Wehner writes:

The radicalization of the Republican Party isn’t going to abate anytime soon. Another band of traditional Republicans, who could serve as a counterweight to MAGA Republicans, is fleeing Congress. Republicans who have recently left or who are about to leave include Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse in the Senate and Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Patrick McHenry, Kay Granger, Will Hurd, Ken Buck and Mike Gallagher in the House. Some of these people have said privately that they knew that continuing to serve in Congress as representatives of a party saying good things about Mr. Trump that they knew weren’t true was not good for their souls.

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However, The Daily Beast on Sunday pointed to other Republican leaders like US Rep Troy Nehls (R-TX), who "following in ex-President Donald Trump’s footsteps, "doesn’t care about offending; he seems to relish in it. He isn’t worried about being a bully. And whether it comes to perceptions of him or Trump, Nehls doesn’t think the public should either."

The news outlet noted, "Even by the standards of a House Republican majority that has gleefully discarded norms of decorum and discretion, Nehls is distinct for so often saying the quiet part out loud—boldly acknowledging political calculations reserved for closed-door discussions and slinging insults that others hide behind anonymously."

Even GOP leaders known for previously criticizing Trump — like New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu — who originally backed Haley — officially endorsed Trump Thursday, according to The Boston Globe, after "once calling him "f---ing crazy" in 2022 and an "a-----e" just last month."

Wehmer also notes:

To get a better sense of this moment, I reached out to the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham. 'Historically speaking, the forces now in control of the Republican Party represent the most significant threat to basic constitutionalism we’ve experienced since the Civil War,' Mr. Meacham, who has helped devise some of President Biden’s speeches, told me. “That’s not a partisan point; it’s just the fact of the matter. And I’m not talking about particular policies, about which we can and should disagree. I’m talking about the self-evident willingness of a once-noble party to embrace lies and the will to power over essential democratic norms.'

Since 2015, I have repeatedly warned Republicans about Mr. Trump, describing him as the kind of demagogue the founders feared, malignant and malicious, a man with a disordered personality. At this point eight years ago, I said that while the struggle for the Republican nomination was over, the struggle for the soul of the party was not.

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Wehmer's full op-ed is available at this link.