Driven by Fear

In the wake of the U.S. election, the Republicans now have a problem on their hands. Donald Trump is still in a position to ruin the party — even if he ends up having to do so from the outside.

Three days after the Democrats won the election, the Republicans should be focusing all their efforts on developing a strategy for their future role as the opposing party. Election night did not go too badly for the Republicans. Despite losing the presidency, they won seats in the House of Representatives and managed to keep quite a secure hold on their majority in the Senate. They also managed to gain support in individual states. This is a favorable position for the party to be in, considering plans that were announced for redistricting in their favor.

However, the party has a problem, and that problem is Donald Trump. Trump, his closest team members and his family are demanding that people show loyalty and solidarity with respect to his claim that, in fact, he did not actually lose the election and that Joe Biden won only because of voter fraud and fake news.

Even the most prominent members of the Republican Party surely believe this is nonsense. However, Trump continues to be a danger to them. It is still unknown whether Trump will remain in politics after he leaves the White House or whether he will once again dedicate himself full time to business (and to the many legal proceedings headed his way once he no longer enjoys immunity). If he stays in politics, however, if he organizes events and continues to post on Twitter, if he possibly even prepares to stand as a candidate again in 2024, then his voice will bear the most weight for Republican Party supporters. Over the past few years, he has been able to destroy political careers with only a few tweets — in this respect nothing is going to change for the time being.

And so, it is understandable that, at the moment, hardly anyone will dare to stand up and openly tell Trump that he should accept the truth and leave. However, this also means that if Trump can continue to decide the destiny of Republicans even from the outside, then Biden’s hopes of cooperation over the next four years are just as much an illusion as those of Barack Obama when he was inaugurated back in 2009. Trump is not capable of constructing anything, he only knows how to destroy. This, however, he does very effectively.