- Republicans began 2021 without control of the Senate
or the presidency.
Those losses usually leave political parties
reevaluating their priorities.
- I would describe it as isolationist, protectionist,
and to a certain extent, nativist.
- We all need to be working as one
if we're able to win the majority.
- I will do everything I can to ensure the former president
never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.
- President Trump redefined the priorities of the GOP.
- Trump, I think, silenced Republican dissension
on a couple of issues that they always fight over --
budget, immigration -- turning the party
into kind of a Reagan-style deficit-spending party
that 5 minutes earlier had said that it was no longer a --
it was the party of fiscal conservatism.
- We've increased deficit -- does that give you some pause?
- It doesn't for the very reason we talked about.
I knew it would lead to economic growth over time.
I didn't know it would happen so quickly.
- I think it's difficult to say exactly what
the Republican Party stands for today,
and the clearest indication of that was when the Republicans
held their national convention in the summer of 2020.
- Welcome to the 2020 Republican National Convention.
- And decided not to write a platform.
In essence, saying, "Whatever Donald Trump
thinks is where we stand."
- I profoundly accept this nomination
for President of the United States.
- Trump's ability to stoke excitement
with the Republican base pushed the party right,
leaving more moderate members of the GOP
searching for their place.
- An American president who cannot take criticism,
who must constantly deflect and distort and distract,
who must find someone else to blame,
is charting a very dangerous path.
And a congress that fails to act as a check
on the president adds to that danger.
- We have certainly seen a decline of moderates
in both parties as the country became more polarized.
In the Republican Party,
there has been more of an emphasis on purity.
- The Republican Party shifted to align itself with Trump
on platform issues.
- Make America great again! Thank you!
- But with the former president now out of power,
the party is left to determine what comes next.
Should they begin a new era of Republican politics
or maintain the Trump playbook?
- We cannot -- We will not go back to the days
of the failed Republican establishment of yesteryear.
- Republicans had a really bad 2020,
but not quite as bad as they thought it would be.
They don't have power at Washington,
but they have these state capitols
that they point to as models
for how the whole country should be governed.
- Republicans control 30 state legislatures
and hold 27 governorships.
- Given how these messages seem to be working in the states,
given how much control they have over the redistricting process,
there just isn't the same kind of impetus
or premium on a major course correction
for the party right now.
- The mid-term elections of Biden's first term
will be the initial test
of Republican strategy going forward,
but those elections are still a long way off.
In the meantime, Republicans rely on familiar Trump
strategies to keep their base engaged.
- Don't try to censor, cancel, and silence me here --
you raised the issue. - Senator,
we're hosting you today -- -You raised the issue,
you've got to listen to the truth.
- The Republican Party is very much focused right now
on some of the cultural hot button issues.
- If it could happen to Dr Seuss,
it might happen to you.
- And this notion of cancel culture.
- This whole cancel culture phenomenon.
First it was Kermit the Frog and the Muppets,
then it was Dr Seuss.
- The idea that the liberal establishment are,
in one way or another,
bringing about cultural changes that are bad for the country.
- Much of what animated the Tea Party morphed
into what animated Trump supporters --
it was appealing to more extreme ideas.
- Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.
- It was grievance, it was an interest in fighting --
in fighting culture wars.
- Republicans don't really see their mission and their strategy
for getting elected as running through the mainstream media
or running through, really, convincing any Democrats.
- Trump's lasting impact may be that the party
cannot move forward without knowing if he'll run in 2024.
- I would not run if President Trump ran.
- '22 is going to be such a defining factor
of what message wins and really charts forward
the pathway for the Republican Party.
- If the president was the party's nominee,
would you support him? - The nominee of the party?
Absolutely.
- Donald Trump was on the ballot in 2016 and he won.
He was not on the ballot in 2018,
and the Republicans took a big shellacking.
He was on the ballot in 2020.
He lost, but Republicans did not.
Republicans are looking at this, you know,
as both glass half full and glass half empty.
- Should anybody that wants to run for the House or the Senate,
should they take this Make America Great agenda
and fight for those things that you fought
for the four years you were president?
- If they want to win, yes.
- January 6th was the biggest example of a trend
that we saw over and over in the Republican Party
during the Trump campaign and during the Trump presidency.
We saw many Republicans who might have truly believed
that he want too far speak out very publicly,
maybe believing that the base would eventually be with them.
- President Trump is practically and morally responsible
for provoking the events of the day.
- As with every other example, we have seen that the base
has very much stood by the president.
- And loyalty to Trump is a defining factor for the party.
In May, Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney
was ousted from her leadership position
over her stance on Trump's role in the January 6th insurrection
and his repeated false claims that the election was stolen.
- I don't -- I don't believe that he should be playing a role
in the future of the party or the country.
- And there's no question that Donald Trump
redefined the Republican Party.
It's his party, at this point.
- I support President Trump.
Voters support President Trump.
He is an important voice in our Republican Party.
- What Donald Trump says and what Donald Trump
wants has great resonance at the grassroots
within Republican circles.
He has a grip on the rank and file,
unlike anybody else in Republican politics today.
- We love you.
We love you.