The Republican party is a mess right now. What once seemed like a united fortress against “wokeness” has turned into a trivial fight club highlighted by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green calling Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebart “a little b*tch” on the house floor. However, nothing points to this chaos more than the current Republican presidential race.  

Former President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, former ambassador Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, former Gov. Chris Christie, Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Doug Burgum and former Vice President Mike Pence are battling it out ahead of the primaries this April.

Many have attempted to make their voice heard under the looming cloud of Trump’s re-election campaign to no avail. DeSantis was expected to go head-to-head with Trump this election cycle, but has been seen floundering in the polls. DeSantis collapsed to 10% in a recent UNH survey, a high fall from 42% in a January UNH survey.    

DeSantis’ own Florida policies might be at fault for this drop. Since May of this year, there have been six anti-LGBTQ+ laws passed by the state government. These range from banning the teaching of sexuality and gender from grades K-8, to allowing healthcare providers to turn away patients based on religious or moral beliefs. Since their passing, several lawsuits have been filed against DeSantis regarding the discriminatory and downright harmful laws. 

Now that he is facing national attention during the race, DeSantis cannot take the heat coming from the left-wing media. DeSantis loves to dance around the answer to a hard-hitting question, especially regarding his policies. In a July interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, DeSantis refused to answer if he would stop sending financial support to Ukraine if elected and tried to turn the focus toward China. I think the American public are now seeing him shrink under pressure and he may not have second place secured in the race.

The answer to the search for Trump’s competition may come from Haley. Even though she is still polling at 12%, there has been a surge in interest after the first primary debate. With a focus on immigration and economic issues, Haley may be the breath of fresh air traditional Republicans are looking for a return to pre-Trump conservatism.  

Looking into the cat fight that is the Republican primary race shows the deeper issues the party has been having for years. After Donald Trump was elected, there has been an ever-growing divide between Trump’s loyalists and traditional conservatives. I feel it is important to have a united opposing party, even if one’s views don’t align with theirs.

Right now, it feels like all the presidential candidates want to do is fight with each other over who is in second place under Trump. Without some cohesion and mutual respect, I do not believe Republicans will be able to win the 2024 election. 

While this may be a win for democrats, I think democracy as a whole will suffer. All this division will make it harder to reach bipartisan solutions and the American people will bear the consequences. Even though I disagree with the frontrunners’ politics, my hope is whoever gets the nomination will rebuild a solid foundation within the Republican party.