A Republican strategist resigned from the party as a rebuke to President Trump’s border policies, while conveniently ignoring his already well-documented history of opposing Trump and his populist policies.
“Twenty-nine years and nine months ago I registered to vote and became a member of The Republican Party which was founded in 1854 to oppose slavery and stand for the dignity of human life,” declared Steve Schmidt, the former campaign manager for Arizona Senator John McCain who currently serves as the go-to NeverTrump Republican for MSNBC.
“Today I renounce my membership in the Republican Party. It is fully the party of Trump.”
Specifically, Schmidt cited the ongoing controversy regarding child separation at the border as the catalyst for his resignation from the Republican Party, calling it “the worst abuse of humanity in our history.”
Schmidt went so far as to equate separating children from their parents in order for the parents to face legal proceedings for crossing the border illegally with slavery.
“It is connected by the same evil that separated families during slavery and dislocated tribes and broke up Native American families. It is immoral and must be repudiated. Our country is in trouble. Our politics are badly broken,” he said.
Not fit to level criticism solely on President Trump, Schmidt warned the Republican Party has become “a danger to our democracy and our values,” and openly called for voters to support the Democratic Party, which he laughably claimed is “the only party left in America that stands for what is right and decent and remains fidelitous to our Republic, objective truth, the rule of law and our Allies.”
Season of renewal in our land is the absolute and utter repudiation of Trump and his vile enablers in the 2018 election by electing Democratic majorities. I do not say this as an advocate of a progressive agenda. I say it as someone who retains belief in DEMOCRACY and decency.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) June 20, 2018
I have spent much of my life working in GOP politics. I have always believed that both parties were two of the most important institutions to the advancement of human freedom and dignity in the history of the world. Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and values.
— Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) June 20, 2018
While the mainstream media was quick to pounce upon Schmidt’s resignation from the Republican Party as a sign of a party in crisis due to the child separation controversy, they ignore his already well-documented history of opposing President Trump and the nationalist/populist agenda that propelled his campaign.
He previously chided President Trump after reports claimed former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him a “f**king moron,” noting the insult is “the highest rank of moron that’s achievable.”
After a joint press conference between President Trump and the heads-of-state for the three Baltic nations in April, Schmidt declared “it’s patently obvious, when you watched the news conference yesterday, and you watched the president talking about the trilateral relationship with the Baltic Republics, he has no idea what he’s talking about. It’s the musings of an imbecile — really. No idea what he’s talking about at any level.”
“We talk about trade, and consider his blowing up NAFTA.”
