Candidate Trump

The withdrawal of Trump’s rivals leaves the Republican Party at the mercy of populism.

The suspension of Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich’s campaigns for the presidential election in November has cleared the way for millionaire Donald Trump to be officially declared the candidate in the race to the White House at the Republican Party’s convention in July. The curtain has opened on a stage in which a populist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist candidate will represent one of two options for occupying the presidency of the U.S. for the next four years.

Since announcing his participation in the primaries, Trump has been responsible for situations and made statements that are simply unacceptable for someone vying to occupy the most powerful political post in the world. His possibility of winning had been diminished in part due to his outlandish behavior, which had led to hopes that the primaries would reveal the displeasure of the conservative Republican electorate toward a candidate that the party itself had rejected. It was not to be. His campaign has been crowned victorious in a variety of areas which demonstrates the clear popular backing that he enjoys; if any Republican candidate other than Trump had been producing the same results, his rivals likely would have withdrawn some time ago.

The Republican Party, without a clear strategy or convincing alternative candidate, has failed in its attempts to block Trump’s nomination. Firstly, by hoping for his defeat in successive primaries, then, by trying to force a victory for Cruz in states like Colorado and, finally, by clinging desperately to the fantasy of a contested convention despite the political and public order risks that this would have entailed.

However, what the conservative establishment has failed to understand is that it is the party itself that for years has been laying the foundation for this Trump victory. It has tolerated and sympathized with the existence in its midst of a radical, populist movement like the tea party, which has systemically undermined confidence in the political classes; it has brought Congress to a standstill purely for tactical reasons; and it has ramped up its hostility toward the White House for being in enemy hands, even tolerating unfounded rumors about Barack Obama’s legitimacy to be president.

Whether or not predictions in the U.S. that Trump’s triumph will contribute to the downfall of a party with 160 years of history are correct — and some reputable conservatives are already making clear their intention to vote for Hillary Clinton in November — what is certain is that his victory is the final stage in a process that began when the Republicans still occupied the White House with George W. Bush.

Trump has been able to blend the anti-establishment tendencies of a party that plays a fundamental role in that very establishment, with the deep discontent of the middle classes over the economic crisis, and has topped it all off with a large dose of controversy and scandal. To the concern of those in the Republican Party who still have some sense, and to the unease of the rest of the world, Donald Trump now does not have a single rival in his race to the nomination for the White House.