Randall letter: GOP, Trump

After choosing another candidate in the primaries, Idaho Republicans were abandoned by their party and reluctantly marked their ballots for Donald Trump in the general election (the infamous “lesser of two evils”). Yet, there were still those who simply could not stomach voting for Trump — he received less votes than those cast for Republican congressional candidates.

But why are seemingly otherwise sane Republicans, even those that publicly denounced Trump during the campaign, standing with him now?

I am sure most of us remember the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes. Though written over a century ago, it perfectly illustrates the foolishness of allowing Trump’s pretentious, dishonest, vain and bullying behavior to go unchecked. By accepting each lie, each threat, each ridiculous action, Republicans are proclaiming their support of the charade. It cannot stand and when it falls, so too will they.

The same Republicans that were willing to declare that Trump was unfit to be president during the campaign are now commenting on the fine fit of his new clothes. Please redeem yourselves and abandon the party-before-country attitude. “The Emperor has no clothes” — Trump is unfit to lead our country and is not representing the majority of Americans.

This story was originally published June 15, 2017 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Randall letter: GOP, Trump."