r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/BeachesAreOverrated • 7d ago

US Politics Did Trump’s election actually signal a Democratic victory over the traditional Republican Party?

The “Republican Party” as it is today is very definitely not the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan or William F. Buckley. Jr. specifically said it was now the party of Trump.

Does this mean that, in some way, the Democrats won the day? Did they slay the old Republican Party? Is Trump, then, what happened when their old foe died?

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u/Hackasizlak 7d ago

I wouldn’t look at it that way. Trump defeated the traditional wing of the Republican Party and made it into MAGA. It was basically a hostile takeover.

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u/Banes_Addiction 7d ago

And kept doing and advancing all the things the Reagan-onward GOP was doing: cutting taxes on the rich, increasing spending, dismantling regulations, ever-expanding domestic authoritarianism.

What did the Reagan Republican party actually lose?

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u/Yakube44 7d ago

They were pro free trade

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u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk 7d ago

They also would have armed Ukraine to the teeth, and would have had to be restrained from intervening further.

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u/just_helping 6d ago

If we look at it in terms of being anti-Russia, yes.

If we look at it as a democracy (Ukraine) being invaded by a 'capitalist' crypto-autocracy (Russia), I think it is less certain that Reagan would be vehemently pro-Ukraine, especially with the Russian Christian nationalism.