Former President Donald Trump’s political tactics shaped the Republican Party in dramatic ways. Today, Republicans are now acting a lot more like Democrats.
While Trump helped push through a few changes that would have made Republicans through the ages grin, he also supported many policies that in a different era would have made Bernie Sanders blush. However, when Trump proposed these changes, many “Republicans” went along with him. And now, while out of office, Trump’s legacy lives on — Republicans are supporting intervention instead of supporting entrepreneurs. The evidence was on full display last week, with a handful of freshly introduced antitrust bills receiving senior Republican support.
While many are still talking about the way that Trump left office, his most enduring legacy might be that he seemingly has changed the Republican Party from the party of small government and individual responsibility to one that supports government intervention. Today’s GOP has more confidence in government than the free market decisions of buyers and sellers.
As an example of this big government love affair, or crush, the Democrats just introduced five new antitrust bills in the House. The five bills attack the free market, relying on a government-knows-best attitude, and put the government at the helm of these companies (and, in one case — advocacy organizations) moving forward. They are the definition of socialism, and unfortunately, they all have various levels of Republican support.
Proposals like these make sense when coming from the Democrats proposing them. The political Left has almost always relied on the fairy tale that government can make everything right. Its fairy tale is that a benevolent government knows more than the greedy entrepreneur. And, throughout the years, Republicans have effectively fought back against these arguments, easily pointing out that bureaucrats are slower and less informed than entrepreneurs. Pointing out that a “greedy” entrepreneur is either going to price him or herself out of the market or out of employees. Until now, Republicans have rightfully pointed out that allowing willing buyers and sellers to interact without government intervention raises employment and quality of life for everyone.
However, each of these five bills has Republican support. Ken Buck, the ranking Republican on the judiciary committee’s antitrust subcommittee, has co-sponsored the bills alongside a handful of other Republicans. This is Trump’s legacy.
Trump was at war with the tech companies. The very companies that created platforms that allowed the former president to subvert a media market that was almost unanimously opposed to him. The same companies that helped us all during the COVID-19 pandemic. The same companies that have overcome other competitors that were previously attacked for being unstoppable, too big, and anti-competitive.
But instead of just attacking their leaders’ personalities, Trump pursued legislation to beat back these businesses. Although his reasons were more retribution than market efficiency or effectiveness, he sold Republicans on the idea. This was only a nuisance when Republicans were in control of the Senate. But with Trump out of office and Democrats in control of both the House and Senate, times have changed.
If Republicans can remember their roots in time, like Jim Jordan has already done, then they will oppose the government taking control of these large companies. Instead, they’ll work on promoting an economy that values and encourages competition. Republicans don’t have to lock in a Trump legacy of big government. They can instead work on unleashing the power of the free market to help recover and grow the economy. Recovery and growth aren’t going to happen through a government takeover of our largest companies.
Charles Sauer (@CharlesSauer) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the president of the Market Institute and previously worked on Capitol Hill, for a governor, and for an academic think tank.
