In 72 hours, Donald Trump undermined everything the Republican Party once stood for

The Republican Party can no longer claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, strong foreign policy, or family values

President Donald Trump endorsed Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore on Twitter (AFP/Getty Images)

Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp, but what he never told anyone is he planned on replacing it with a cesspool. This morning, the President of the United States officially endorsed accused child molester Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama. Meanwhile, European allies are saying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson can’t be taken seriously due to the rumours he’s about to be sacked – leaked from Trump’s own White House. And last Friday, under the cloak of darkness and with handwritten notes senators didn’t even have time to read, the GOP-controlled Senate passed a tax bill which will redistribute wealth to the one percent whilst hurting the very people who put Trump in office and adding trillions to the deficit.

I’m old enough to remember when Republicans touted themselves as the grownups in the room on family values, foreign policy, and the economy. No more. Donald Trump’s Republican Party has shown it has no principles, no morality, and no shame. As the events of the past 72 hours show, they are rewriting the rules of American democracy and diplomacy – and we are all suffering as a result.

To begin with, Roy Moore, I can’t believe I have to say “you shouldn’t support accused child molesters,” but here I am, having to say that you shouldn’t support accused child molesters. All I know is I never want to hear a Republican talk about how LGBT people are a threat to children ever again. There are no words to describe how disgusting it is that anyone would support this man, let alone the President. Trump is so infantile (perhaps not the best choice of word given these circumstances, but honestly) that he’d rather win than stand against an accused child molester. Yet here we are. Never take another lecture from family values from a Republican. Not when the Republican President supports an accused child molester for the US senate.

Meanwhile someone Trump isn’t supporting is Rex Tillerson. The Secretary of State has embarked on a long-anticipated trip to Europe, but our allies are balking at the idea that his words hold any gravity. He has “no mandate,” one EU official told Reuters. It’s easy to see why, considering the lukewarm support he clearly has from President Trump and the persistent rumours he’s on his way out of Soggy Bottom.

That our allies feel his visit is basically a waste of time should startle every American. The Secretary of State is responsible for American foreign policy, yet Trump and the Republicans who continue to enable him have basically undermined any credibility Tillerson may have. “I’m the only one that matters,” Trump said of the State Department last month. But that’s never been how American foreign policy works. The president can’t be everywhere and do everything, so he delegates. That’s even more important considering how volatile and inexperienced the current President is.

Rex Tillerson was an unconventional pick for Secretary of State (he had zero foreign policy experience), but he’s proven to be one of the few level heads and reasonable voices to emerge from this administration. That Trump has ruined his credibility on the international stage is deeply concerning. Besides that, if the world doesn’t think the Secretary of State speaks for America, who does?

Back on home turf, Republicans have resorted to taxation without representation. That’s all you can call it when senators are on national television complaining that they don’t even know what’s in the bill they’re voting on and asking their Twitter followers if they can read the scribbled notes in the margins.

In the course of 72 hours, the Republican Party was able to shake the foundations of American democracy and completely ruin its brand. The Republican Party can no longer claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, strong foreign policy, or family values. Going into 2018 and the midterm elections, every American should remember this weekend – the weekend the Republican Party and Donald Trump finally replaced the swamp with a sewer.