I grew up in a Republican household in Hermantown, a home that supported social-conservative values, that was strongly pro-life and pro-Israel, and that was concerned about over-globalization and the growth of government.

When I interned and worked in Washington, D.C., I started to notice a change in the Republican Party, a change that came into sharp focus the night Sen. John McCain conceded the 2008 election to then-Sen. Barack Obama. The party's base kept drifting into conspiracies about President Obama's birth certificate, conspiracies amplified by businessman Donald Trump. D.C. Republicans became hostage to a base that demanded absolute opposition to Obama, no matter the consequences.

When Trump announced his presidential candidacy in 2016, I wasn't surprised, but I thought he would lose. When he won the nomination and subsequently the White House, I was horrified. Not one leader in the Republican Party in D.C. stood up to him. His vicious attacks on the media, ripping immigrant families apart, and fiscal irresistibility horrified me.

But the moment when it really hit me that the GOP could no longer be turned around from within was when Trump stated on the world stage that he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence services when it came to Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Can we imagine President Ronald Reagan saying such a thing? Of course not.

When most of the Republican leadership did not repudiate President Trump, I decided to leave the party. The incompetence of the GOP and its inability to govern has been on full display with the rise of Trump.

Yes, I still want less government, though I want it to be functional and work for the people. Today's GOP has failed in both of these areas. Take health care: After years of opposing Obamacare, the GOP didn't have a plan to replace it. The federal Perkins Loan Program for four-year colleges is gone. Reforming the VA? Incompetence continues to hurt our veterans. The long-promised transportation bill is nonexistent. To date, the biggest GOP accomplishment is a tax bill that adds to the national debt.

Fiscal responsibility is dead. Government oversight? Please. How long was Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt allowed to keep misusing tax dollars? How many tax dollars have gone to Trump's private resorts? This sort of abuse of taxpayers' money used to make the GOP burn red. Today that anger seems reserved for a supposed deep state that is out to get Trump.

We need government that works for people. Yes, programs come with abuse and we should hold those in charge accountable, but the average American at some point will make use of a government program. We shouldn't be vilifying those who do so as lazy or unwilling to work. It is interesting to note that despite GOP attacks on government aid, red states often are the largest recipients of that aid.

We should want a government that doesn't saddle us with thousands of dollars in either medical or college debt. We need a government that is compassionate toward the poor and offers a helping hand to those in need.

When the GOP asks how we will pay for such a government, the response should be by re-examining our national priorities and getting serious about taxes.

It is time to send Washington and the GOP a message, that we will no longer tolerate dividing Americans against each other.

It is hard to leave one's party and realize one's work has been wasted. But it was the right choice for me. I hope others uncomfortable with President Trump as leader of the GOP will join me and help drain the swamp and return this great nation to its rightful course.

Eric Lindell of Ashland grew up in Hermantown and was graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a degree in political science. He was head of the College Republicans at UWS. He interned in Washington, D.C., for the nonprofit Leadership Institute (leadershipinstitute.org) and for U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa. During the 2008 presidential election, he worked for American Viewpoint Polling.