The GOP Needs to Accept Responsibility for What They’ve Created

American politics has a world stage, because it affects the entire world in a way no other country does. Their political and military power is huge. So when the global population looks on at the chaotic mess of the Republican race, there’s overwhelming disbelief.

The political atmosphere in the US has been moving further and further right for years. Even the majority of Democrats are considered conservative by most European standards, which is why Bernie Sanders isn’t considered very radical in European left-wing political circles. But this election has taken a direction that no one expected. When Donald Trump first announced he was running, most of the world, including America, laughed.

But now it’s serious. Really serious. Super Tuesday was a big night for Trump. He won seven out of 11 states, and the other candidates don’t look like they have a chance. Even Cruz, who has been hanging on to Trump’s coat tails waiting for him to trip himself up so he could take the businessman’s base, looks pretty hopeless. Chris Christie, considered an establishment politician, suspended his campaign and announced a surprise endorsement of Trump that is now mocked all over the internet and by the media. He made a choice to move to the dark side for political gain. He seemed trapped, in physical pain, looking into the abyss during Trump’s rant filled conference Tuesday night. I’ll admit, it was fucking hilarious.

The Republican Party’s elite is panicking, with several of them coming out to condemn the tone of his campaign, drawing fire from Trump supporters and unusual praise from liberals. Everyone is all over the place, and the possibility of a Clinton vs Trump general election looks more and more likely, if Bernie Sanders doesn’t manage to pull a 180 before June.

Republicans don’t seem to understand that they helped create him and his supporters. The badly disguised racism, the vehement sexism and the obstructionism and other isms have helped nurture a particular extreme conservative mindset that is now taking the party’s white, majority male, working class base by storm. Here is a candidate that says everything their thinking. He’s fearless, he speaks his mind, he’s “self-funded”. He doesn’t answer to anyone, and that appeals to a lot of people. Really, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we’ve ended up here.

Trump’s rallies give us a glimpse of what his presidency would look like. The disdain shown at his rallies toward people he or his supporters deem enemies is frightening. Just look at what happened on Monday evening at Valdosta State University in Georgia. 30–40 black students, who said they planned to sit in silent protest, were escorted out by security officials before Trump started speaking. The campaign denies knowledge of the incident, but Valdosta police claim they spoke to Trump staff who requested that the students be escorted out because they were being “disruptive”. This isn’t an isolated incident.

Fascism is a strong word to describe him. He’s not necessarily a fascist, but his campaign does have those tendencies, borrowed and further built on from mainstream and fringe Republican ideologies. He’s not a overt white supremacist, although his interview with Jake Tapper on CNN on Sunday about former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke’s endorsement is alarming. He has not shied away from interacting with white supremacists on social media. However, his campaign is more built on structural racism and white privilege that stems from America’s history and current relationship with its white supremacist past.

But this doesn’t make him any less dangerous. It actually might make him more so, because the burning crosses and swastikas are hiding behind his orange head. Which is why I always thought Ted Cruz was actually a more scary candidate, because his views and policy ideas are essentially the same, but hidden behind a professional, smarmy mask. Now though, it looks like Trump is going in for the kill, and his very right-wing sentiments are making people use the word fascist more and more to describe his campaign.

Trump isn’t an outlier. He’s just holding up a mirror to the GOP, and America as a whole. Whether he actually believes what he says is a different story, and he might say it more colorfully than others. But what he says falls in line with the past conservative narrative. Anti-immigrant? Check. Demonizing Muslims? Check. Against LGBT+ rights? Check. Anti-tax? Check. For repealing Obamacare? Anti-reproductive rights? Against the Iran deal? Check, check, check.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), essentially said the same thing after Trump’s Super Tuesday triumph:

“Donald Trump is the standard bearer for the Republican Party. Republicans created him by spending seven years appealing to some of the darkest forces in America. Now it’s up to the Republicans to try and undo what they have done by denouncing Donald Trump. It’s time for the Republicans to stop the Frankenstein they created.”

He went further, calling out the other Republican candidates as more subtle, but also too extreme. This narrative is noticeable to everyone in the country. The question now is; if Trump wins the nomination, what will happen next? Will the party unite behind him? Will there be a rebellion and then some break off into a third party?

It’s a really scary, much too realistic soap opera. I’m on the edge of my seat.