In one faction, you have President Trump and his biggest backers, like Steve Bannon and Fox News host Sean Hannity, who continue to attack establishment Republicans on Twitter (Trump) and in speeches and on TV (Bannon and Hannity). The Trump side claims the establishment is the reason why Obamacare didn’t get repealed, why the wall isn’t being built, and why they disagree on free trade.

It might appear like Republicans are in a battle for the heart and soul of the party . But it would be hard to call it a civil war when in reality, there’s only one side fighting. The other side? Its troops seem to have surrendered in one way or another.


This so-called establishment side is composed of more traditional Republicans like former president George W. Bush, Arizona Senator John McCain, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who believe that Trump’s antics have driven down approval ratings, sowed division inside the party, and created instability with America’s allies around the world.

A few of them have spoken out, but the ones that have are the ones with little to lose. There’s Flake and Corker, who only really engaged with Trump once they decided they were leaving the Senate. And Bush, who is nine years into retirement at this point.

The others have taken a far more muted approach. They’ll criticize Trump in spots, but refuse to hit him where it matters most: by voting against the president’s agenda or going all out to defeat Trump candidates in primaries.

Consider what happened Tuesday, when the rift among these two groups appeared as wide as it has ever been. In the morning, Trump was engaged in very personal back and forth with Corker. By the afternoon it was a back and forth with Flake.


That’s when Flake took to the floor of the Senate and delivered what’s been called one of the most impassioned speeches of the year — an articulate takedown of Trump that called his behavior “dangerous to democracy.” The response was overwhelmingly positive, with pundits calling it a historic day in American politics.

But here’s the reality: Flake may have taken a few good shots, but it’s all talk. In that same speech, Flake announced he would not run for reelection in the face of a primary challenge from a Bannon-backed candidate. If he really wanted to take on Trump and his allies, Flake would have run again.

The same goes for Corker. He too has offered up more than a few zingers against the president in recent days, but only after he announced he was not running for reelection.

Instead of fighting, both senators threw up a white flag and decided to go home, quite literally.

Meanwhile, Bannon gleefully claimed victory on Tuesday, while continuing to lob bombs. Asked about Flake’s retirement, Bannon responded “Another day, another scalp.”

Bannon wasn’t wrong.

As for the traditional Republicans, it’s rare for them to speak out against Trump beyond the occasional quip. The rest of the time they’ve put their heads down, hoping not to be singled out, while trying hard not to squander the moment that a GOP-led Congress with a Republican president brings.

Instead of being mad at Trump for attacking his own Republican Senate members, McConnell praised the president’s Supreme Court pick and told reporters on Tuesday that “There’s a lot of noise out there. You have a first amendment in this country. Everyone has a right to express themselves.”


The dynamic is so lopsided that even late night comedian Stephen Colbert took the party to task. On Tuesday, he ran a clip of Flake’s speech where he says “Mr. President, I will not be complicit or silent,” to which Colbert retorts, “No, I will be complicit and absent.”

Sure, some would say that more traditional Republicans are trying not to sow anymore discontent within the party than already exists in the Trump era. But by not fighting back, they are in essence allowing the party to be defined by Trump. And when that happens, they lose anyway.

James Pindell can be reached at james.pindell@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @jamespindell or subscribe to his Ground Game newsletter on politics:http://pages.email.bostonglobe.com/GroundGameSignUp