Trump is deliberately driving a wedge through the GOP
The former president’s attacks on potential GOP primary
opponents, and his warning to party leaders to stay away
from the popular entitlement programs in their push to
cut spending, are cleaving Republicans at every level.
Lawmakers who once backed entitlement overhauls are
now openly at odds with colleagues who’d prefer to soften
their positions before they face voters in 2024.
And a GOP presidential race that’s a referendum on Trump
is now becoming one on Medicare and Social Security.
While the GOP once more actively pushed for changing
both programs’ benefits, Trump has separated the party
into two distinct camps as he attacks Florida Republican
Gov. Ron DeSantis as a “wheelchair over the cliff kind of guy”
for supporting a congressional budget that alters Medicare.
Both Republican camps and even some Democrats agree
that Trump’s moves are politically effective.
But many GOP members are angry
to see their party freshly divided over this.