During the election cycle, current President Trump and his supporters began referring to themselves as “trash” and “garbage”, and even went as far as dressing in trash bags to show their support for the MAGA movement. This came after old-timer Joe Biden’s controversial comment, where he seemingly referred to Trump supporters as garbage.
It seems as though modern politics have become a haven for reality-show-like behavior. Harris is not exempt from this. We all remember the Brat campaign, where Harris attempted to gain the youth approval through the use of the popular album by Charli XCX. However, this was a lot better than dancing around in garbage bags.
As the new administration settles in, it’s evident that this embarrassing behavior is nowhere near over.
“I am become meme”, Elon Musk said to an awkwardly quiet crowd during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), “Yeah, pretty much…” he continued, realizing that no one knew what he was talking about.
This sad, desperately cringe-inducing moment is just a peek into what mainstream conservatives have become. Musk has had his fair share of cringe moments on social media, where he said the same, unappealing comments involving “memes” and other gen-Z words.
Musk himself is known for his out-of-pocket tweets and moments during public appearances. The worst was his stage jumping, when he randomly jumped all around the stage while Trump looked on, like an embarrassed parent, knowing he couldn’t say anything to the man who had contributed two hundred million dollars to his campaign.
It hasn’t always been this way though. Political campaigning really took off in the early 19th century, and modern campaigns, as we know them today, weren’t occurring until the late 1900’s, when most Americans had access to television and things like the internet.
But why exactly is politics, specifically conservative politics, so cringey and hypocritical now?
Mainstream Republicans have totally lost the plot of what they once strived for, and they have now just become Trump loyalists, ready to do whatever he and his funders desire.
For instance, rather than focusing on reducing taxes and small government, Republicans have found their new target: DEI. It seems that in the world we are living in, a black person in power is the largest threat to our way of life. In their latest attacks against universities, Republicans have launched an investigation into more than fifty institutions of higher learning, supported by Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, who once worked with the WWE.
Republicans, who once called themselves the party of free speech, have seemed to go strangely quiet during the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil. Khalil began his education journey early, earning a degree in computer science from the Lebanese American University, and he even worked with the British embassy in Beirut.
Khalil then moved to the U.S. in 2022 and earned his Master’s degree at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He eventually married an American woman who is currently eight months pregnant. Israeli activists have accused Khalil of being a leader at Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), a group advocating for the university to separate from financial ties to Israel. After his arrest, the Trump administration accused Mahmoud Khalil of “leading activities aligned to Hamas” without providing any extra details or evidence.
In a briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke on the matter by saying, “[Khalil] distributed pro-Hamas propaganda.” She said that she possessed flyers to prove this claim, but she added, “I thought about bringing them into this briefing room to share with all of you but I didn’t think it was worth the dignity of this room to bring that pro-Hamas propaganda.” Leavitt also accused Khalil of “harassing Jewish-American students.”
At the heart of the Mahmoud Khalil issue is the question of free speech in America. Khalil’s story isn’t that different from many immigrants who come to the U.S. in search of opportunity. He built a life here, earned a master’s degree and started a family. Now, with his wife eight months pregnant, he sits in detention, accused of being a Hamas operative without any real evidence made public.
This cruel treatment shows the exact direction of the Republican party. The party that once claimed to fight for personal liberties and limited government now seems more focused on silencing voices it disagrees with.
American Jews are speaking out against this censorship, such as the Jewish Voice for Peace, who protested at the Trump Tower by shouting, “Jews say stop arming Israel! Bring Mahmoud home now!” Many Jewish people say that this action by Trump is only fueling division and antisemitism, simply affirming already existing stereotypes towards their people.
It seems hypocritical of Trump to be engaging in this behavior, especially after criticizing the Biden administration for restricting information on social media platforms. Outside of universities, Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie has also been at the forefront of free speech controversy.
Massie has been criticized for what is considered to be anti-semitic comments, such as when he called out the power that the Israeli lobby has over American policy. Trump recently put out a post on Truth social, where he exclaimed that Massie, “SHOULD BE PRIMARIED.” This means that Trump is calling for someone else to run against Massie through his own endorsement, in an attempt to keep him out of Congress. Thomas Massie’s fellow Republicans have so far stayed silent on the matter.
The Trump Administration also announced a $400 million cut in grants for Columbia University, “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” A substantial portion of the revoked funding, over $250 million, originated from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), impacting more than 400 grants. This could negatively affect various biomedical research projects, and it may lead to layoffs and a disruption in critical research conducted by the university.
Modern Republicans have just become cringey, hypocritical, and worst of all corrupt. If the GOP still stands for anything, its loyalty to Trump, wealthy donors, and prioritizing power over principle.
In fact, the Trump administration is thinking of running again for President again in three years. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon recently hinted at a third term, stating, “I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028, so I’ve already endorsed President Trump. A man like this comes along once every century, if we’re lucky. We’ve got him now. Want to see him again in 2028.”
When questioned about this process, Bannon said, “We’re working on it. I think we’ll have, I think we’ll have a couple of alternatives. Let’s say that. We’ll see…what the definition of ‘term limit’ is.”
The corruption within today’s GOP isn’t just about policy shifts or party conflict; it’s about a seperation from democracy itself. What are we as a nation, if we wield governmental powers to censor universities, businesses and just about anything that disagrees with the set agenda?
If left unchecked, the GOP’s corruption will only deepen. Instead of a government that works for the people, we’ll have one that punishes enemies and rewards loyalty. Investigations will just be even more weaponized, laws will be selectively enforced and institutions will be destroyed just for political gain. And the question isn’t just whether Trump will get a third term, it’s whether the country will still resemble a democracy by the time he’s done trying.
