President Donald Trump continues to wildly polarize the United States to the point of the stream of Republicans leaving his party continuing to grow. In recent days, that list has grown to include former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Elsa Alcala and Belknap County, New Hampshire’s Commissioner Hunter Taylor. In their explanations for abandoning the Republican Party, they both directly pointed to Trump’s behavior. Alcala explained Trump’s racism as pushing her over the edge, and Taylor added criticism for the way in which Trump has used this racism to run right over the basic institutions of the United States, ignoring skyrocketing debt and more in the service of his racist frenzy.
Alcala pointed to the recent exposition of the president’s racism provided by his assertion that four progressive Congresswomen of color should essentially “go back where they came from” instead of criticizing his administration, because apparently Trump thinks his oh-so-great leadership deserves some kind of dictatorial-style adoration or something. Alcala asserted:
‘President Trump is the worst president in the history of this country… Even accepting that Trump has had some successes — and I believe these are few — at his core, his ideology is racism. To me, nothing positive about him could absolve him of his rotten core.’
Talk about bluntness.
Calling the GOP under Trump a “cult of personality that embraces bigotry,” Taylor added:
‘The institutions upon which our form of government was built and has long operated have been compromised and corroded. Our Constitution, the rule of law and separation of powers have all given way to presidential impulses. Governance by reason has been replaced by edicts via twitter.’
Taylor also denounced Trump’s “continued harangues about building the wall… inhumane treatment of refugees at the border… cruel separation of families and… ongoing threats of deportation of undocumented individuals who have been longtime law-abiding and productive members of our society.”
Trump threatened raids targeting immigrant communities just in recent days, sparking a nationwide mobilization including high-visibility progressive leaders to remind people and potential targets of their rights. On occasion, immigration authorities have sought to pressure their way into residences without warrants, concealed their identities, and even detained the wrong people.
Both Taylor and Alcala expressed support for the field of Democratic presidential primary contenders, led at present by former Vice President Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Kamala Harris (Calif.).
The current and former official join the ranks of former Republicans like the high-profile Michigan Congressman Justin Amash, who announced on July 4 that he was leaving the Republican Party after becoming the only GOP member of Congress to call for Trump’s impeachment following the report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation including evidence of the president’s obstruction of justice. Support for the president’s platform, including racism, has proven widespread in the GOP. This week, when the House brought up a resolution to condemn the president telling women of color to go back where they came from as racist, only four Republicans voted with the Democratic majority in favor of the resolution.
Featured Image via screenshot
