One-time Republican New York Times columnist David Brooks said the Republican Party’s decision to kill off its own immigration bill was “profoundly shocking” in a way that went beyond any previous GOP disasters.
In his latest column, Brooks said that the GOP’s actions this week put a stake into whatever aspects of the GOP he still believed were admirable.
Of particular note, said Brooks, was the fact that the GOP is now openly showing disdain for democracy itself.
“In a democratic society, opposing parties negotiate and try to strike a compromise that’s, on balance, better than the status quo,” said Brooks. “This week’s immigration-Ukraine-Israel package is one of the most one-sided compromises I’ve ever seen. Republicans got most of their long-term priorities, while Democrats got almost none of theirs… And yet Republican after Republican came out against the package, arguing it doesn’t have absolutely everything they want.”
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Brooks then linked this action to former President Donald Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.
“They have adopted the Trumpian logic that under him, they will never have to compromise,” writes Brooks. “The dictator will issue commands, and everything Republicans want will just happen.”
Brooks also found himself aghast at the way Republicans lied about the border deal brokered by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), one of the most conservative members of the Senate.
“Politicians always distort proposals they disagree with, but Trump has given his colleagues permission to make things up with abandon,” he argued. “In the hours after the package was released, Republican officeholders produced a Vesuvius of misinformation about what was in it.”
