Elizabeth Hyman 

Opinion Writer

There’s no nice way to say it. Our generation has never seen a group so reckless as the current, incredibly distasteful Republican Party. I would blast them for their decision-making, but they have yet to make an actual decision. They have only spun chaos, and in that chaos, they have produced many presidential candidates who have made a mockery of the American political system through their cowardice and extreme lack of responsibility. The right-wing race for the presidency has left the American people with a very tumultuous, very loud circus. 

Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, and others have become a dastardly force in our nation. 

The next Republican primary debate is Nov. 8, and we are all waiting with bated breath to see which one hits the others over the head with a Looney Tunes mallet first. There is no reason for this debate, which won’t have the clear frontrunner participating. As a young person in America—a young trans person at that—I feel confident that these candidates don’t care about people like me. For the issues they do care about, they have dubious solutions. DeSantis believes in stringent education policies in Florida, while Mike Pence believes in the death penalty for school shooters. 

These policy ideas are not solutions. They are red herrings, paper tigers, and senseless distractions. Their proponents throw mud at the wall in hopes it will stick and gain them enough traction to achieve the White House. When they get to the White House, an administration of theirs would look no different from a Trump administration. 

The GOP candidates are like Razzles—sure, they come in different flavors, but they all turn your tongue red. 

Some candidates are weaker than others, but they have all resorted to attacking one another to gain higher ground. Tim Scott and Haley, for example, were close allies when the Trump administration was appointing Haley to the United Nations ambassadorship. Scott gave a promotional speech encouraging her appointment. Now, they fight like hyenas over a bone in the presidential race. 

Yet, they fight in vain. We all know that Trump will almost certainly get the party’s nomination, and when he does, we will have the election of our lives for the third time. He’s weakened but not down, and even with four separate indictments on 91 criminal counts, he is more popular than ever. We also must consider that these candidates may make the cut for a new Trump administration if they don’t win. It depends on how nice they’re willing to play in the primaries, meaning they may use the race as a step in their pursuit of power.

If you’re a Republican reading this, it is not my goal to vilify your party. It is, however, my goal to criticize the state of your party. My only prerogative is to shine a light on how far we’ve fallen in our standards for presidential fitness. Gone are the days of respectable Republicans we trusted to uphold American ideals. I’ve been a Democrat my entire life, but I can break bread with any Republican. 

What I can’t and won’t abide by is the dishonest and vapid behavior of today’s Republicans, and though I may be brash, I believe that in these times, someone has to be.