By Christine Todd Whitman

Last week, our president used his Twitter account to tell four Democratic congresswomen of color to accept the way things are or leave the country. He equated advocating change with hating America, a far cry from the roots of the Republican Party that once fought to end slavery and segregation. When I denounced Donald Trump in December 2015, I entreated my party — the GOP — to remember our brightest moments in history, when conservatives advocated changes that would overcome hate and division. I argued that then-candidate Trump’s language was reminiscent of that used by dictators in the 1920s and 1930s, a period that did not end well.

Four years later, I have watched the Trump administration chip away at the basic tenets of our democracy and the Republican Party embrace our president’s fearmongering tactics. His hateful language is an alarming threat to our nation, and heralds the denigration of our country’s institutions.

In response to Trump’s tweets against these congresswomen (which he continues to defend), a Virginia church put up a sign stating, “America: Love it or Leave it” in front of the building. Freedom of speech is a basic tenet of our democracy, and separation of church and state has been a foundation of our Constitution, yet the two are so contorted here, it can be hard to unwind. On Wednesday night, the president stood before a campaign rally audience that began chanting, “Send her back!” in reference to Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. While he subsequently has denied that he encouraged that, for an extended period of time he basked in it and didn’t resume his speech until the chant died down on its own. How have we fallen this far that a mob would suggest forcefully sending an American citizen elsewhere as a result of her suggestions for improvements to our country?

The congressional representatives on the receiving end of Trump’s tweet called for change. Perhaps not change I would support, but they have a right to their opinions. Advocating for change is not the same as hating our country, and the implications of such a claim should alarm Americans on both sides of the aisle. It is precisely the freedom to hold any view, and express that freely, without fear from dictatorial might, that makes America great.

Our president has shown time and again that he is comfortable demonizing his opponents with broad strokes. Immigrants, congressional representatives, women both specific and in general, and religious minorities have all been subjected to his acrimonious attacks, but these particular tweets were not merely a racist dog whistle. They were a bugle.

This president governs only for his base and has a strategy of “Heads I win, tails you lose.” He doesn’t care about the policies, but he knows what galvanizes his base, so he throws out a policy such as adding the citizenship question to the census. If it gets through the courts, he has a win to tout. If he loses, it’s because of the “mean courts,” “fake news” or “bad Democrats,” and his base loves him. If his base supports him, he doesn’t care who gets hurt in the process or what sacred institutions of democracy are damaged.

“Love it or Leave it” is not a conservative anthem, and it is certainly not the worldview that informed our Constitution or the foundations of our democracy. The United States has seen troubling times before, but we have always found the right leader to help our country rise above hate. Not today. Now it is up to us, the people of the United States, to remember who and what we are. We are not a people who look away when our president spews hateful rhetoric and tries to divide our country along racial lines. And my party, the Republican Party, must return to our roots and champion our commitment to freedom for all.

2020 is our chance to refute the undermining of our basic institutions by this administration and demand that our representatives, on both sides of the aisle, stand up for our democratic principles. The rule of law matters, ethics matter, freedom of speech and the press matters, and the truth matters. Will Republicans be characterized by the hate language of our candidate, or will we finally try to heal the partisan division within our country? It’s time to take a stand. We are better than this.

Christine Todd Whitman served as governor of New Jersey from 1994-2001 and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2001-2003.

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