'Gutted of moderates': Ex-Homeland Security aide says MAGA will run the GOP even if Trump is not elected
Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor explained on Monday that voting for an alternative Republican to Donald Trump isn't going to eliminate MAGA from the government.
Speaking to MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline White House," Taylor said the GOP desperately needs former Trump insiders to explain why what they experienced is dangerous for the country. Those outside of the Trump camp have already been tainted as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) by the former presidents supporters and won't be listened to, he said.
"Judge Michael Luttig, with his exceptional integrity and his eloquence, is perhaps one of them. Chris Christie is one of the few in the Republican field who can do it," said Taylor.
"The thing that I take issue with, though, is the optimism, unfortunately. The New York Times labeled the piece — 'It's Not Too Late for the GOP.' I'm not so sure that that's the case. Congress, at this point, has been gutted of moderates. When Donald Trump became president, I think Pew said roughly 55 percent or 60 percent of Republicans in Congress were moderates. That number has been statistically decimated since then if you look at the numbers from the FiveThirtyEight blog."
That's when he delivered the blow about possible future Republicans that will still perpetuate the far-right ideologies of Trump.
"The big conservative think tanks, Heritage, the America First Policy Institute, which is the big Trump MAGA think tank, they're all putting together slates of MAGA people to go in the White House," Miller continued. "So, make no mistake. Even if a rational Republican somehow emerges from this field, it's going to be MAGA foot soldiers that go into the next GOP administration. That doesn't give me a lot of encouragement. And people like Chris Christie, Will Hurd, or Asa Hutchinson are all polling below 1 percent right now."
He noted odds makers had Trump at a 9 percent chance of winning in 2016. This time, it's a 30 percent likelihood of being the next president.
"That's how much MAGA has overtaken the Republican Party," Miller explained. "So, I think it's important for these voices to be amplified. But I'm skeptical about the impact they'll have on this go-around."
While the former Trump voices might not impact Republican voters, the bipartisan fight against Trump may have influenced Independent voters during 2020, which broke heavily for Joe Biden.
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