Trump, tough issues and personal rivalries test the GOP’s reputation

Republicans often present a united front, but loyalty to former President Donald Trump, seen here with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, and views about his future in the party are showing some divisions.

Alex Brandon/AP

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Alex Brandon/AP

Republicans often present a united front, but loyalty to former President Donald Trump, seen here with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, and views about his future in the party are showing some divisions.

Alex Brandon/AP

Newspaper headline writers joke about keeping “Democrats in Disarray” set in type, just to be ready the next time it’s needed.

In any given year or season, that “standing head” pops up about as often as “Weather Snarls Traffic” or “Middle East Peace Talks Collapse.”

But we lack an equally facile cliché for Republicans. Either they manage not to fall out with each other, or they are less likely to let it show — at least not where it might be seen as newsworthy.

Presenting a united front has been an even greater imperative for the GOP when Democrats were in the White House and especially when Democrats also had majorities in Congress.

That may be changing. Heightened tensions within the GOP have been increasingly visible in recent weeks, driven by the still-divisive personality of former President Donald Trump — but also by issues such as vaccines and mandates and by the prospect of big Republican gains in the elections of 2022 and 2024.

This week’s focus has been on Republican governors declaring their independence not only from the former president but from present party leaders in Washington.

In some cases, the governors are reacting to Trump’s meddling in their home state politics. Here we have Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is term-limited but has backed a candidate to succeed him. Trump has endorsed someone else, adding that Hogan himself is “toxic” and “a Republican in name only [who] has been terrible for our country and against the America First Movement.”

Asked about Trump taking sides, Hogan replied: “I’d prefer endorsements from people who didn’t lose Maryland by 33 points,” referring to Trump’s blowout loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the state last year.

This particular feud is not new. Hogan has been critical of Trump for years and condemned him for inciting the crowd that marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6.

But eyebrows were raised over the weekend when…