GOP insider says they're now free of 'insane' Trump: 'We can actually say the truth'

Even before the full extent of the Republican midterm wipeout was known, GOP insiders at the grassroots level were already distancing themselves from Donald Trump.

In interviews with Politico, Republican operatives said it was time to move on from the president, with one saying lawmakers can finally call it out “when Trump’s acting insane.”

Among Republicans, "there’s little doubt about who’s to blame" for Tuesday’s stunning losses, Politico reported.

“Honestly, we need to move as far away from Trump as we can,” Todd Gillman, a Michigan GOP operative and former chair of the Monroe County Republican Party told the outlet. “I think Republicans might be screwed all the way until ‘30.”

Operatives who spoke to Politico on election night pointed to Trump’s decision to take the country to war with Iran, which they said was made without serious planning, and to his "brash, politically incorrect style."

“Talking about Nicki Minaj’s fat a--. All that stuff is just wearing people out. It’s just wearing people out,” Gillman said.

Matt Dole, chair of the Licking County Republican Party in Ohio, cited Trump’s efforts to rename the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Ontario and to seize Greenland.

“I think you’re going to see a part of the Republican Party advocate for a return to normalcy, which is not repudiating Trump’s ideology and policies, but will repudiate Trump’s style,” Dole said. “Trump is really good on Republican core principles, but he plays out of the sandbox a lot.”

GOP consultant Ryan Girdusky said the winning coalition Trump built, powered in part by young voters, has vanished, pointing to depressed youth turnout for Republicans.

“Donald Trump built a once-in-a-generation, or once-every-typical-decade, governing majority over an 18-month campaign, and he spent another 18 months blowing it to smithereens,” Girdusky told Politico.

He said Republican officeholders may now feel free to say what they really think.

“The fear of the primary is kind of over, and obviously the illusion that he can bring out these voters is over as well,” Girdusky said. “They don’t particularly love the war, the way that it’s presented. They don’t love the tariffs, the way that he did it. … [The results] will just allow them to say, ‘Hey, when Trump’s acting insane and we all see it, and we have to pretend that we don’t see it, we can actually say the truth.’”