Republican strategist Rick Wilson is widely known for being one of the first Republicans to state offense to the candidacy and election of Donald Trump. He has also been one of the first to denounce, not only Trump, but also the Republican Party for embracing Trump. Therefore, it was no surprise to see Wilson express his forceful unvarnished view of Trump during his appearance on today’s edition of Morning Joe.
What was stark about Wilson’s appearance this morning, however, was in watching a longstanding promoter of the Republican Party explain why the execrable Trump could still boast the kind of party allegiance of the Republican base that defies logic.
[B]ased on Gallup data, President Trump commands the second highest “own party” approval rating of any president at the 500 day mark since World War II, behind only President George W. Bush, after 9/11.
This is Wilson’s explanation:
They love the fact that Donald Trump finally gives them the sort of id of the Republican Party. They’re finally given the permission to say the ugly things they’ve kind of wanted in their secret hearts for a long time. And the monster got out of its cage, in terms of a lot of the populist messaging that worked to motivate a lot of Republican voters for a long time.
Wilson was then muted by the broadcast, seemingly due to fear that he would run amok of network censors. He later posted the portion of his statement that was muted.
Post mute, Wilson was asked on the program to expound on his assessment of the Republican Party:
I think there is a part of the GOP that has emerged in this populist culture in the separated media silo that is built by the 90 million households that Fox News hits every day, and by this talk radio and online segment that really didn’t want a fair and balance approach to the world and how we talk about issues and how we think about things.
They wanted that separate media thing. They wanted what they always claimed the Liberals had, which was a hermetic silo, where only their views and their grace notes were hit. And I think there is a deep underpinning of racial anxiety that informed a lot of Trump voters. And I’ve said this before, not every single Trump supporter is a racist xenophobic jerk, every single racist xenophobic jerk is a Trump supporter.
Following Wilson’s frank description of the Republican Party, the program’s host, Joe Scarborough, joined in to further confess to the racist leanings of many in the Republican party.
So Rick, you know, one of the…I’m just curious…how you’re sorting through this…. Guys like you and me have spent their entire lives pushing back on the belief that there was this subterranean racism in the Republican Party—that it wasn’t really all about that—that it was about, you know, whether it was about freedom, whether it was about economics, whether it was low tax rates, whether it was about the American dream, whether it was about affording everybody equal opportunity. That’s…that’s what I believe my entire life. And it’s, at least to me, it’s been shocking and somewhat embarrassing just how wrong I was all along that a huge chunk of the Republican Party was exactly what Liberals have been accusing us of being for a very long time.
(emphasis by diarist)
I have to admit that I have been a critic of Joe Scarborough, and Morning Joe, for quite some time. Still, if we must grow as people, it is worth pointing out agreements, just as we are quick to point out disagreements. I have to, in all fairness, say that this was one of the most upfront television discussions of race I have seen in quite some time. And, certainly, the most upfront discussion of race I have ever seen by members of the Republican Party. It is worth noting.