GOP allowing Trump to brand the party

For all the uproar over Donald Trump’s attacks on U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, only a couple of Republicans have withdrawn support of the party’s presumptive nominee, or even reconsidered their blanket excuse that Hillary Clinton is worse.

Maybe the revelation of Trump’s instructions to high-ranking supporters such as former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will change that. On a conference call, the candidate ordered his surrogates to continue to question the credibility of Curiel, who is hearing a class-action suit against Trump University and, according to the Donald, is obviously biased because he is from Mexico (never mind that Curiel was born in Indiana). Trump also commanded his backers to respond to pesky questions by calling the reporters who ask them “racists.”

Over the weekend, it was breathtaking to watch Trump reach new depths as his party stood by. The worst equivocation may have been from his latest endorser, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who promised to do nothing more than to “keep speaking out” when Trump says something “out of left field.” On what field does questioning the independence of a judge on the basis of race belong?

By reacting mildly to their standard-bearer’s latest violations of the norms of politics and decency, Republicans have allowed Trump to put his brand on their party as if it’s one of his hotels. They’ve put their consciences in a blind trust.

The party is acting as if Trump blowing various dog whistles to keep his base happy is just politics as usual. In reality, their big tent has become a gathering place for voters who are enraged by having to press “1 for English.”

Trump’s extreme behavior regarding the judge is partly prompted by the peril presented by the suits over his putative university. Trump and his businesses have been involved in at least 3,500 lawsuits over the past three decades (about 70 have been filed since he announced his candidacy a year ago), according to USA Today. But the one targeting Trump U. would be particularly costly if he has to make restitution to the students he allegedly defrauded.

Just as important, he wouldn’t want his supporters to read the unsealed documents (the depositions that didn’t qualify as “trade secrets”) and learn that he wasn’t on the side of the little guy when he thought up his school. Even though he has sought in the campaign to make himself the champion of Us – those ignored by the elites – in the battle against Them, he’s the Them.

The barrage against Curiel exposes Trump’s weaknesses: that he believes “others” are to blame for any problems, and his fear that he could be exposed for who he truly is to those he’s duped. Mostly he’s afraid of becoming one of the losers he loathes.

He’s not stopping himself because he can’t. Republicans still can.

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "GOP allowing Trump to brand the party."