A former state GOP lawmaker slammed his party for giving up traditional conservative values and adopting Trumpism.
Geoff Duncan, the former Lt. Governor of Georgia and a lifelong Republican, told the panel on CNN's "NewsNight with Abby Phillip" that President Donald Trump's "complete control" of the party poses an existential threat.
"The only example I can give is like a rogue cult leader coming into a church and taking it over," Duncan said. "He's brainwashing people, and you don't have to look any further than the zombie-esque reaction to the last few weeks. DOGE has imploded. He's made promises, yet the base doesn't hold him accountable for it."
Duncan's comments come just hours after former vice president Mike Pence told CNN that MAGA is a "minority voice" within the GOP.
"[Trump] has spent trillions of dollars that he promised that he wouldn't," Duncan continued. "We still have war in Ukraine, and he's taken the side of Vladimir Putin until the last few hours. This is not the Republican Party that I grew up in, and I don't think it's ever coming back. I think it's gone for good."
"They're in the ditch and they just don't know it yet," Duncan added.
GOP strategist Scott Jennings replied that the party just won the national popular vote in the 2024 election, and mentioned that gas prices and grocery prices appear to be coming down.
"How are we in the ditch?" Jennings asked pointedly.
Phillip then questioned why Jennings chose to begin supporting Trump, given that he was an outspoken skeptic when Trump first ran for office.
You can watch the full exchange right here.