Top Republicans haven’t been doing a very good job defending democracy lately.
When Russia intervened in the presidential election on Donald Trump’s behalf, most leading Republicans said little. When Trump lied about “millions of people” voting illegally, there was no outcry from his party. When Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina lost last month and refused to concede, other Republicans largely remained silent.
And of course dozens of Republican officials across the country have taken steps to restrict voting rights.
This pattern is especially worrisome because the newly elected president is a Republican who has repeatedly disrespected basic democratic values, including free speech and the right to protest.
When Trump takes office, there will be no more important check on his power than other Republicans. They control the House and the Senate and are soon likely to control the Supreme Court again. The country needs Republicans and conservatives to stand up for democracy.
That’s why I was cheered to see today’s Op-Ed by Evan McMullin, a former adviser to House Republicans who ran for president as a conservative alternative to Trump this year.
McMullin writes: “We must never forget that we are born equal, with basic, natural rights, including those of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights are inherent in us because we are humans, not because they are granted by government. Government, indeed, exists primarily to protect those natural rights; the only legitimate power it has is that which we grant to it.”
The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including Joe Walston on the rash of killings of wildlife rangers.
David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist