Republicans Have Stockholm Syndrome, and It’s Getting Worse

The GOP has stopped resisting President Trump and started accelerating his race to the bottom.

BY MAX BOOT | OCTOBER 19, 2017, 9:00 AM

The lobotomization of the Republican Party appeared complete last year when the same GOP paladins who had denounced Donald Trump as a “lunatic trying to get ahold of nuclear weapons” (Marco Rubio), as a bigot who was guilty of “the textbook definition of a racist comment” (Paul Ryan), and as a “narcissist,” “serial philanderer,” “pathological liar,” and “bully” (Ted Cruz) nevertheless endorsed him for the most powerful position in the world. Tragedy turned to farce (or is it the other way around?) after the emergence of the “grab ‘em by the pussy” tape on October 7, 2016. Republicans such as Sens. John Thune, Mike Crapo, and Deb Fischer called for Trump to leave the race on the grounds that he was unfit for office, only to change their minds and re-endorse him when it became evident that he was still polling strongly among base voters.

But the Republicans’ race to the bottom — to the absolute lowest moral and intellectual depths — wasn’t over last year, and it’s not over now. It’s still continuing, with even supposedly “normal,” “moderate,” “mainstream” Republicans increasingly echoing Trump’s know-nothing effusions.

In Virginia, Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and counselor to “compassionate conservative” George W. Bush, is attacking his Democratic opponent for governor, Ralph Northam, for being too sympathetic to immigrants and too unsympathetic to Confederate monuments. One particularly incendiary commercial accuses Northam of “increasing the threat of MS-13,” a drug gang from El Salvador that is evoked with pictures of tattooed gang-bangers who actually belong to a rival outfit. Gillespie’s tendentious reasoning? As lieutenant governor, Northam voted against a bill in Virginia’s Senate that would have prohibited the establishment of any “sanctuary cities,” even though Virginia does not have any such cities. MS-13 has long been a favorite Trump target, symbolizing the supposed menace of Latino immigration.

Gillespie’s successor at the RNC, Ronna Romney McDaniel, has been equally eager to serve as a Trump echo chamber. Her Twitter feed gives sycophancy a bad name. Recent tweets: “No one recognizes the importance of women’s empowerment better than @IvankaTrump. She’s paving the way worldwide”; “Wonderful to finally have a @POTUS who isn’t ashamed to stand up for religious liberties”; and “Ratings for unpatriotic NFL declining? Shocked.” If Trump claimed the moon was made of Swiss cheese, McDaniel would be mocking anyone who said it was actually Camembert.

In her willingness to serve as a Trump enabler, McDaniel is matched, and perhaps exceeded, by the senior-most Republican officials in the land. Who can forget Vice President Mike Pence going to the Colts-49ers game on Oct. 8 for the express purpose of walking out to express disapproval of players kneeling during the national anthem? Trump has fixated on this non-issue as a way to mobilize his white, working-class base by anathematizing wealthy African-American athletes. And Pence is happy to play along. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is happy to vouch for Trump as a non-racist despite decades of Archie Bunker-style comments suggesting otherwise. “His heart’s in the right place,” Ryan said, making one wonder whether he has access to a super-secret EKG.

The leaders of Congress seem to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, which by now should really be renamed Republican Syndrome.The leaders of Congress seem to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, which by now should really be renamed Republican Syndrome. There, on Monday, was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell singing kumbaya with Trump in the White House Rose Garden only hours after the president disavowed any blame for “not getting the job done” legislatively. “I’m not gong to blame myself, I’ll be honest,” Trump said. (When has he ever blamed himself for anything?) “They’re not getting the job done.” In case there is any doubt about who “they” is, Trump has been explicit in calling out McConnell as a weak leader, tweeting in August, “The only problem I have with Mitch McConnell is that, after hearing Repeal & Replace for 7 years, he failed!” McConnell nevertheless pledged fealty to his abuser. “Contrary to what some of you may have reported,” he dutifully intoned, “we are together totally on this agenda to move America forward.”

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http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/19/republicans-have-stockholm-syndrome-and-its-getting-worse/