Former congressman reveals the weakness Trump exploits to corrupt GOP lawmakers

Former congressman Will Hurd believes the Republican Party is rotting from the top down, and he explained the dynamic that's encouraging that degradation.

The Texas Republican retired from Congress last year and wrote a new book, American Reboot, that outlines his ideas for what needs to change in American political life, and he told The Atlantic's Tim Alberta about a conversation with his 90-year-old father that helped him map out his own future.

“William, I can’t give any advice on what you should do, because I don’t understand any of these things,” Bob Hurd told his youngest son. “But I know what you shouldn’t do. Don’t be desperate. Because when you’re desperate, you make bad decisions.”

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Hurd, who rose from college class president to CIA operative and then the only Black Republican during his time in the House, told the story after he was asked how Donald Trump's influence over the GOP had changed his friendships with party leaders Kevin McCarthy and Elise Stefanik.

“Some of my friends, some of my former colleagues, they are desperate,” Hurd said. “They are so desperate to hold on to their positions, to hold on to their power, that they make really bad decisions.”