GOP's 'debauchery and crime' is turning me away from the party: conservative

Conservative New York Times columnist Bret Stephens told fellow commentator Gail Collins in a new conversation published at the paper that while he generally is optimistic about the future of the United States, he is not so confident in the future of the Republican Party specifically.

"It’s easy to get carried away with gloom, and America has a history of bouncing back from bouts of depression and disorder," said Stephens. "But I find it really hard to feel any optimism when Donald Trump seems to be cruising to the Republican renomination and Joe Biden is generating excitement among Democrats the way a colonoscopy generates excitement among people turning 50: something your doctor says you must do but only because the potential alternative is lethal."

When it comes to the GOP's current state, Stephens continued, "I read about the Republican Party the way I would about a former friend with whom I was once close but who tragically turned to a life of debauchery and crime in his demented old age."

Specifically, Stephens — a years-long Trump skeptic conservative — is concerned as more and more news comes out about former President Donald Trump's alleged criminal behavior with highly classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, and as polls continue to suggest that Trump is the overwhelming favorite to be nominated again for the presidency.

This comes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the runner-up in the Republican race, caused an explosion of controversy after a super PAC affiliated with him put out an ad criticized by even members of his own party as virulently homophobic, and as even members of his own campaign say the numbers look grim.

At the end of the day, Stephens added, he still "would much prefer to live here than in Britain, with its sky-high inflation. Or France, with its riots. Or Mexico, with its corruption and creeping authoritarianism. Or Canada, with its Justin Trudeau."