Recently, Jim McCain, offspring of deceased U.S. Senator John McCain, divulged his support for Vice President Kamala Harris for the forthcoming 2024 elections, instigating more confusion in the political landscape amid already chaotic times. Interestingly, McCain was once an independent but switched to being a Democrat just a month prior. He cited this unexpected endorsement as a response to an alleged scuffle between Trump’s staff and the Arlington National Cemetery personnel over campaign activity restrictions. Apparently, such underhanded tactics aren’t an anomaly anymore considering the disturbing decline in ethical standards in politics.
It is quite unsettling to witness the flourish of political disapproval against Trump even from those who were once, or who still confuse themselves as, residing in the Republican camp. A recent poll by USA TODAY/Suffolk University demonstrates this trend with Harris leading the race against Trump by 48% to 43%. It becomes even more bewildering to see that less than a year to the election has already resulted in such a pathetic display of misplaced partisan loyalty.
A similar ludicrous spectacle unfolded back in the 2020 elections where around 150 alumni of Republican presidential nominees switched sides to back Joe Biden. Presumptuously, this group asserted that the swing of moderate Republicans and conservative independents towards Biden in swing states helped him bag the election. In their obliviousness, they even called upon voters to repeat this misguided choice and back Harris against Trump. Nonetheless, any rational spectator can see the miguidedness of this clarion call.
Here’s just a small reminder of how warped some of these individual stances are: They’re bolstered by the likes of Olivia Troye, former White House national security advisor. During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, she rallied Republicans to cast a vote, not for their party, but for a ‘democracy,’ that is slipping more and more to the left every single day. While trying to sway Republicans to abandon their loyalties, the irony of her plea apparently eluded her.
Likewise, former Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, exhibited an odd perspective for a professed ‘conservative and veteran.’ He bizarrely suggested that the essence of being conservative, and apparently Republican, was to defend the vulnerable. In a confusing twist, he shifted blame on Trump for supposedly ‘suffocating the soul’ of the Republican Party. Kinzinger made such dramatic claims perhaps neglecting to remember that conservatism intrinsically means preserving traditional institutions from whimsical changes such as his own.
Stephanie Grisham, Trump’s former press secretary and Melania Trump’s previous chief of staff, couldn’t resist joining the chorus against Trump. She audaciously stated that Trump lacked ’empathy, morals, and fidelity to the truth’ as though throwing such groundless accusations about is a respectable way to voice one’s dissatisfaction with former colleagues.
Adding to the wave of irrationality, Georgia’s former Lieutenant Governor, Geoff Duncan, denounced his own party’s current state, calling it ‘chaotic and crazy.’ He incited Republicans to ‘dump Trump,’ but didn’t bring up anything that could be considered a practical, constructive alternative beyond an equally, if not more, chaotic Democratic leadership.
Similarly disconcerting are the words of the Mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles. Giles aired his frustration with the current state of the Republican party claiming that the party of John McCain has vanished and that we are no longer indebted to its remnants. What’s left unsaid is that such remarks amount to political suicide given how they’re scorning the very foundations the party was built on.
It should be noted that Jim McCain isn’t the only member of the McCain family to evince such an erratic viewpoint. Cindy McCain, his mother, also fuelled the fire against Trump back in 2020 in the wake of the Arlington incident. She had backed Biden against Trump after Trump’s alleged remarks about Senator McCain. It seems like personal vendetta, not rational judgement, is driving these decisions.
Interestingly, McCain’s sister, Meghan McCain, despite sharing her family’s political tenure, remained neutral on the matter. She affirmed her membership of the Republican party yet declined to vote for either Harris or Trump. In her words, she ‘respects the wide variety of political opinions’ within her family, a noble sentiment that paints a stark contrast to the petty bickering that has dominated recent political discourse.
One can’t help but notice that self-proclaimed Republican stalwart and 2012 Presidential nominee Mitt Romney too, has a similar stance to Meghan McCain. He frequently criticizes Trump and proclaims he will not vote for him this time around. However, his declarations stop short of endorsing Harris. Such lack of commitment begs the question about where his loyalties truly lie.
In a much-awaited turning of events, former Vice President Mike Pence announced that he would not endorse Trump for a second term, attributing it to ‘profound differences.’ It is rather disappointing and ironic to see someone who had all but been Trump’s right hand, refuting his previous ally. Usually, such inconsistencies are met with skepticism, and rightly so, as they point towards a very alarming trend of prioritizing personal interests over national ones.
In summation, what all these endorsements and denouncements truly reveal is not the failings of Donald Trump, but rather the duplicitous nature of their authors. Whether it’s personal vendettas, altering self-interests or plain confusion under the guise of ‘ideological differences’, each of these individuals has used these as an excuse to betray their party’s ideals. The truth of the matter is this: in the pantheon of political integrity, this manner of thinking has no place.