'The party's dead': Conservative strategist passes judgment on GOP for giving up and joining Trump's cult

On Saturday, in the wake of nearly a week of coverage of President Donald Trump lying about the path of Hurricane Dorian and commandeering federal agencies to try to make his lie true, former Republican strategist Rick Wilson told MSNBC's Joy Reid that his erstwhile party is no more — and that what's left of the GOP will be destroyed along with the president.

"It's funny, Joy, I have a new piece this morning in The Daily Beast and basically my argument is, Trump is entering the 'eccentric dictator' phase of his presidency," said Wilson. "And that always requires a group of sycophants, a group of people who absolutely know better but for their own political power, own position, their own wealth, own ability to influence the discussion, they're going to lie, they're going to say, 'Of course the sky is bright purple today, Mr. President. Of course the hurricane was steaming toward Birmingham. You're so right, sir.'"

"They wink and nod and tell reporters behind the scenes, they go off the record and tell reporters he's out of his mind, but on the public-facing side, they violate their oath to the Constitution and to the office, that they're going to uphold this country and protect this country and they support Donald Trump," continued Wilson. "There is a culture and a cult around Donald Trump that loves the lie. Even if they know it's a lie, they love it, and they push it, and it's become an amusement for them."

"The question, then, is the base of the party that's being fed this and believes it and part of the cult of personality, with the religious cult, it's difficult to bring people out of it if they don't want to come out of it themselves," Reid pressed him. "Is there a way to break reality into the reality of the base of the Republican Party at this point, or are they just gone?"

"It's over, Joy," said Wilson. "There is no Republican Party. It's the Trump party now, and they are awaiting the day the great leader tells them to drink the Kool-Aid so they can rise up to the comet. It's over. The party's dead. It's Trump's party. It will go down and die with him."

Watch below: