The day before Donald Trump declared that he would enact a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” should he become president, a poll was released finding that 58 percent of respondents felt Trump was hurting the Republican Party’s image, and half that his rhetoric was “insulting and offensive.” Just about one quarter of respondents felt he was helping the party’s reputation.
Trump’s attacks on immigrants, Syrian refugees, Muslims and other groups have fed the notion that Republicans are cruel and unwelcoming toward outsiders. It’s a notion that Republicans once sought to dispel.
Many Republicans have rushed to condemn Trump’s remarks. (Though a handful of conservative writers are praising it. Influential blogger Erick Erickson called the proposal “brilliant politics.”) But it’s difficult to see how these condemnations will drown out the noise made by Trump’s original remarks.
In just a few months, Trump has managed to offend immigrants and Hispanics with his comments about Mexican immigrants being rapists and criminals and with his proposal to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He has also offended women, military veterans and people with disabilities, among others.
Trump isn’t the only Republican spouting anti-Muslim rhetoric. Witness one-time co-front-runner Ben Carson’s declaration that he’d never vote for a Muslim for president, and Chris Christie’s remark that he wouldn’t admit 5-year old Syrian orphans into the U.S.
Democrats are gleeful. The mention of Trump’s name now sends Hillary Clinton into fits of laughter. She’s probably thinking of all the negative ads she won’t have to run.
This is exactly what the Republican Party wished to avoid. In its much discussed “autopsy” after the 2012 election, the Republican National Committee said the only way they’d win future elections was by being more inclusive and welcoming toward groups that historically have not voted for Republicans, chief among them immigrants, minorities and young people.
The report, called “the Growth and Opportunity Project,” offered much in terms of policy changes, but its main point had to do with language and tone. RNC chairman Reince Priebus said, “I think our policies are sound, but I think in many ways the way we communicate can be a real problem.”
This piece of self-criticism has clearly fallen on deaf ears in some quarters.
Daniel Allott is deputy commentary editor for the Washington Examiner.
