'Cult Of Trump': Why These Politicians Are Leaving The GOP

The Republican Party is filled with adherents to a “cult” and needs to rid itself of the “cancer” of former President Donald Trump. That’s the word from dozens of members of former President George W. Bush’s administration, who told the Reuters news service they are leaving the GOP.

In an exclusive story, Republican officials from the Bush administration told Reuters they were leaving the party given its steadfast loyalty to Trump even after he was impeached by the House of Representatives for a second time -- most recently for inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6, when lawmakers were certifying the results of the November elections.

“The Republican Party as I knew it no longer exists,” Jimmy Gurulé, who served as the undersecretary of the Treasury Department’s office for terrorism and financial intelligence in the Bush administration, told the news service. “I’d call it the cult of Trump.”

Those officials speaking out against Trump and the party said they’ve either ended their membership or allowed it to lapse, while others re-registered as independents, saying they no longer recognize the GOP.

“If it continues to be the party of Trump, many of us are not going back,” Rosario Marin, who served as treasurer in the Bush administration, told Reuters. “Unless the Senate convicts him, and rids themselves of the Trump cancer, many of us will not be going back to vote for Republican leaders.”

Several members of the party continue to support the idea that something went wrong in the election given that an overwhelming number of Republicans voted against certifying the results even after the Jan. 6 riot.

Among them are Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican who after failing to secure the Republican nomination in 2016 and after working to thwart Trump’s presidential bid became one of his staunchest supporters.

In the House, freshman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., is facing mounting pressure to step down for her fiery rhetoric. She is a follower of the QAnon conspiracy theory that holds Trump as a savior of sort in a battle against an alleged Satanic ring of child pedophiles plotting against the former president.

Gabriel Sterling, a Republican election administrator and vocal opponent of the many conspiracy theories surrounding the former president, told Politico that Greene is particularly toxic for the party.

“The Democrats would never throw her out. They want her to be the definition of what a Republican is,” she said. “They’re gonna give her every opportunity to speak and be heard and look crazy — like what came out Wednesday, the Jewish space laser to start fires. I mean, I don't know how far down the rabbit hole you go.”

According to Reuters, the controversy is starting to resonate among the party elite. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was quoted as saying the party was “having a little bit of a spat right now.”

Trump has suggested he would run again for president in 2024 and the party continues to enjoy public support. A review of federal data from The Washington Post found a political action committee formed by the former president has raised some $31.5 million since the Nov. 3 election.

Combined with other donations, that brings the haul up to around $290 million. Most of that financial support, however, came in November, the Post found.