The Republican Party Faces Donald Trump’s Challenge

Conservatives must put the public interest before election calculations.

Donald Trump’s call to revolt after being indicted for the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels is steeped in victimhood, which the former president of the United States did not hesitate to exploit in order to bolster his return to the presidential race. Trump’s strategy — now targeting the justice system — is a reckless one under a rule of law whose machinery was already called into question during the last election, to the point of triggering an attack on the Capitol.

Under these circumstances, the Republican Party, through its local leaders, must speak out against what represents a threat to the country’s very democracy, which, due to the polarization fostered by Trump, is on its way to establishing itself in radicalization and confrontation. Unstructured and devoid of hierarchy, the United States’ major parties generally adapt to the circumstances of the best-positioned candidates. Trump, however, demands a change of script that will put public interest before election calculations.