Recently on FOX News’s Hannity show, Ari Fleisher, a self-described member of the establishment GOP, weakly attempted to placate both sides of the fractured Republican Party. He emphatically pleaded the argument that the establishment needs to respect the patriot wing, and the patriot side needs the establishment to know how to pass laws. I am sure I was joined in a collective double-take upon hearing Mr. Fleischer’s disconnected reasoning.
Since 2008, the Republican Party has been in a political downfall. Each political cycle, the self-lauded establishment GOP overwhelmingly endorsed weak candidates across the board — Presidential, congressional, and state-level. It is as if the party of Lincoln wants to aid the Democrat party in weakening America, both domestically and internationally. Everyone knows that in 2016, an outsider defeated 16 establishment types, and thus, the patriot era emerged with an enthusiasm not seen before in politics. A reformed and inclusive party of the people emerged under the GOP umbrella.
For four years, President Trump and the Republican members of Congress worked steadily to pass America First policies. Yet it was President Trump, buoyed by his mandate from patriots, who pushed the establishment GOP to succeed, to stand politically taller, and to finally have a backbone. The media falsely labeled the new GOP the “party of Trump,” and thus, it was erroneous to conclude that once President Trump “lost” due to a fraudulent election, the Republican Party would retain the same level of support it enjoyed for four years yet be able to backtrack to its pre-2016 ways.
It is a kaleidoscope of the American fabric that constitutes the Patriot Movement — from disengaged former Democrats to staunch conservatives, a smattering of Bernie Bros, and proud representation of every ethnic and religious group. As a cohesive unit, we are proud citizens whose only wish for our government representatives is to place Americans first — not in an isolationist-era capacity, but in a way that ensures that basic needs be catered to. We believe in the economic long-term benefits of school choice, especially in underserved areas. We understand the necessary evil of taxes but insist that our money be used wisely. Transparency is of utmost importance to the movement, which is why we applauded President Trump when he limited lobbying efforts.
While President Trump was tasked with delivering the patriot mandate, there would be no such modern undertaking without the great Rush Limbaugh. Aside for the indelible mark on American broadcasting left by the creator of talk radio, Rush was the political architect of today’s Patriot Movement. In the decades prior to Trump’s presidency, he used passion and humor to educate and inspire Americans to believe in themselves, to rise above adversity, and to be proud of our great country — a country that gladly welcomes (legal) immigrants who seek freedom and opportunity. The establishment GOP mourned the too early loss of Rush Limbaugh (as they should have), but they did not do him justice by not properly upholding his ideals and grassroots conservative standards.
Establishment Republicans have yet to come to terms with the fact that they need patriots to keep them in office. Patriots had high hopes for Nikki Haley for 2024 due to her myriad of accomplishments at the U.N. Those accomplishments were at the behest of President Trump and his directive for her as a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The fallout from Ms. Haley’s post–January 6 anti-Trump statement is irreparable, and now her political career is most likely all but done, all by her doing. The former South Carolina governor did not just turn on the man who elevated her onto the national stage, but managed to invalidate the legitimate concerns patriots still have about the election results. Republicans who were voted in by patriots but choose to kneel to the establishment will find out in less than two years’ time that it will hurt their re-election chances dearly.
Senator Lindsey Graham, who emphatically declared with a sweaty brow from the U.S. Senate floor on January 6 that Biden would be sworn in as president, senses that his political relevancy is nearing expiration. Labeled a traitor among America’s 80 million Trump voters, he has recently attempted to grovel back into President Trump’s good graces. Perhaps the 45th President has a forgiving heart, but Republican disenfranchised voters will not be supporting a traitorous career politician. After all, it was patriots who saved Senator Graham’s almost failed re-election bid this past November. For a while, a Democrat challenger was tied in the polls for a seat that has not turned blue since the 1960s. Many patriots personally donated to Senator Graham’s embattled campaign primarily due to his upholding of President Trump’s policies.
Mr. Graham, like all the other RINO (Republican in Name Only) politicians, including Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. Liz Cheney (among a list of others), who have since flipped back to their own crony capitalism, ought to realize that their voter support has dwindled, and their campaign donors will not be backing them for their next elections. A recent Gallup poll indicated that 70% of registered Republicans would support a third party, up from 40% in September of 2016. It is not just that the establishment GOP turned on President Trump; they turned on the patriot wing of their party, which just happens to be the majority.
President Trump was a political bulldozer who exposed Washington’s defect of not prioritizing citizen-centered politics. It was the patriots who placed their political will onto his presidency. Anything less than maintaining a patriot mandate will not bode well politically for the current Republican leadership.
Laureen Lipsky is founder of The Jewish Patriots Network. She is an op-ed writer and has been published in The Federalist, American Thinker, JNS, Israel Hayom, and Times of Israel. This article originally appeared in American Thinkerin February 2021 and is still relevant today.
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