Charles Krauthammer: If Trump Prevails, GOP Split a “Real Possibility”

Charles Krauthammer: If Trump Prevails, GOP Split a “Real Possibility”

Fergus Hodgson, 31 October 2016

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Charles Krauthammer flew into Louisiana this weekend, but he did not coming bearing good news for attendees at the 2016 New Orleans Investment Conference. Although the Washington Post columnist and retired psychiatrist cannot bring himself to lend any support to Hillary Clinton, he is fearful of a Donald Trump presidency and gave two predictions.

His fears stem from the view that Trump has little if any ideological backbone or concern for limited government in the US tradition. Past GOP presidential candidates have been lacking in this domain too, but Trump appears less stable and more at odds with power brokers in the party.

The weight of this division leads Krauthammer to believe that if the wave of “Trumpism” prevails, there is a “very real possibility” of a new political party in the United States. In other words, he foresees a clean break, with the anti-populists or never-Trumpers rejecting any ongoing coalition.

“Ultimately, a country like ours will have a conservative party — one way or the other. It’s too broad and ingrained a philosophical tendency not to have a political vehicle, but the GOP may turn out to be no longer the vehicle.”