As the 2024 U.S. presidential election nears, there’s a pressing question among some prominent Republicans: can the GOP be salvaged from the grip of Donald Trump and the ideology that he has cultivated? Some conservative figures, like former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney and outgoing Utah senator Mitt Romney, hope that one day, the Republican party will shift back to its pre-Trump principles. But given the landscape, reclaiming or reshaping the party seems no small feat.
Several figures—including Cheney, Romney, and former Maryland governor Larry Hogan—have expressed both dismay over the current direction of the GOP and a determination to restore it. Hogan, for example, is running for a Senate seat, asserting his belief that there remains space for moderate voices, even as Trump and Trump-backed candidates dominate the party’s stage.
Liz Cheney has been one of the most outspoken critics of Trump within the Republican ranks. She lost her congressional seat in Wyoming in 2022 after she stood firmly against Trump, particularly in the wake of the January 6 Capitol attack. Cheney’s focus has since shifted to countering Trump on a national stage, including actively campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in battleground states. For Cheney, it’s not merely about challenging Trump’s hold but about preserving democratic principles within the party itself.
Romney, however, has been quieter in his approach. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee and an outspoken critic of Trump, Romney has opted to exit the political scene gracefully as he retires at the end of his Senate term. Yet, he too has voiced concern over the party’s future, though his reticence has drawn criticism from some who see his silence as complicity.
Michael Steele, former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a current MSNBC host, believes more drastic measures are necessary. According to Steele, a full reset may be the only way forward for the party, which he views as severely compromised by Trumpism. “We have to blow this crazy-ass party up and have it regain its senses,” Steele said, noting that figures like Cheney, Hogan, and former Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger could be essential players in such a movement.
Hogan, a moderate Republican known for his bipartisan approach as governor of Maryland, is now running for a Senate seat. Though he acknowledges the hurdles, Hogan is hopeful that a post-Trump GOP could broaden its appeal by returning to values championed by Ronald Reagan. For Hogan, a renewed party would be one that embraces ideological diversity and works across party lines, a vision he believes is essential for Republicans to win elections in an increasingly polarized nation.
“There are a lot of people that are very frustrated with the direction of the party and some of them are giving up,” Hogan recently told The Guardian. “I think we’ve got to stand up and try to take the Republican party back and eventually get us back on track to a bigger tent, more Reagan’s party, that can win elections again.”
The “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) movement is not a fringe ideology within the GOP—it’s the dominant one. This shift is reflected in recent primary elections, where around 85% of Republican primary voters supported Trump. Reed Galen, a political strategist and co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, points to this statistic as evidence of Trump’s overwhelming influence within the party.
For Galen and other strategists, the reality is stark: the vast majority of Republican primary voters support Trump’s vision. “If the establishment wants its party back, then it’s going to have to do some pretty serious work to destroy the parts of it that are anti-democratic and fundamentally dangerous to the country,” Galen said. However, he is skeptical that the party establishment has the will to undertake such an effort.
The financial power behind the MAGA movement is formidable. Right-wing advocacy organizations and influential donors have been critical to Trump’s hold on the GOP. Organizations like the Heritage Foundation, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and influential figures like Leonard Leo have spent decades building networks and strategies that support Trump-aligned policies and candidates. With their resources and infrastructure firmly entrenched in the GOP, these groups aren’t likely to relinquish control easily.
One notable result of their influence is the recent repeal of federal protections for abortion rights—a decades-long conservative goal. Such policy triumphs, achieved through Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices, have only cemented Trump’s appeal within these circles. They are unlikely to support a move away from Trumpism without a strong and viable alternative.
Liz Cheney has hinted at a possible solution that could bypass the GOP’s current struggles: a new political party. Speaking at an event in Wisconsin, Cheney suggested that creating a right-wing alternative might be necessary, given that much of the GOP has become “a tool for this really unstable man.” For Cheney, the Trump-led GOP’s stance on issues ranging from election denial to foreign policy is at odds with traditional conservative principles, which she sees as incompatible with a healthy democracy.
The logistics of building a new party, however, are daunting. Establishing a viable third-party alternative requires not just political will but substantial financial support and grassroots enthusiasm. Many donors have already aligned themselves with Trump’s vision for the GOP, and redirecting that support might prove impossible.
A younger cohort of Republicans—including Senators JD Vance, Ted Cruz, and Josh Hawley—could be positioned to lead the party after Trump. Each of these figures has demonstrated an ability to navigate Trumpism while occasionally signaling a willingness to moderate their stances. Reed Galen believes that, in private, many of these younger Republicans hope for a post-Trump GOP, yet none are likely to explicitly break away until Trump is no longer a factor.
Vance, once a vocal critic of Trump, has since aligned himself with Trump’s policies, garnering the support of high-profile donors like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. These younger leaders are keenly aware of the shifting dynamics within the GOP, but they also recognize that distancing themselves too much from Trump could isolate them from a significant portion of the base.
“The worst kept secret in the world is that JD Vance or Ted Cruz or Josh Hawley all desperately want Trump to lose because they want their shot,” Galen observed. But in his view, even a Trump loss wouldn’t allow these figures to easily pivot away from MAGA ideology; the ideological shift Trump initiated has taken root.
Some anti-Trump Republicans, like Sarah Longwell, publisher of The Bulwark and a conservative strategist, argue that silence in the face of Trumpism is counterproductive. Romney’s reluctance to speak out, she argues, is a missed opportunity. Longwell recently commented on his refusal to endorse Kamala Harris, stating, “‘I can’t come out and endorse Kamala Harris because I have to maintain some juice to help rebuild the Republican party?’ No.” She sees this hesitation as emblematic of a broader unwillingness among traditional Republicans to challenge the party’s direction.
Longwell’s critique underscores the internal tension within the GOP—between those who see Trump as an existential threat to traditional conservatism and those who hope that simply waiting out his influence will allow the party to “reset” organically. Longwell contends that the latter approach is unrealistic given the strength of Trump’s current hold.
Galen, who has spent years working with pro-democracy groups to counteract Trump’s influence, sees the GOP’s current condition as a cautionary tale. His experience at a recent event in London reinforced his doubts about the future of the party. There, a young Trump supporter told him bluntly, “You know, we killed your party, and we couldn’t be happier about it.”
Such interactions highlight the stark generational and ideological divide within the GOP. For Galen, the Republican party of fiscal responsibility, moral leadership in foreign policy, and individual liberties is already gone. Today’s GOP, he argues, is a “nationalist, nativist party,” driven more by grievances and identity politics than by traditional conservative principles.
The question of whether the GOP can be restored to its traditional principles remains unanswered. For Cheney, Hogan, and Steele, the answer may lie in a new coalition or, potentially, a breakaway party that recaptures the spirit of conservative governance. For Galen, the party may already be beyond saving, transformed irrevocably by Trump and the infrastructure built to support him.
As the 2024 election unfolds, these anti-Trump Republicans will likely continue to voice their concerns, both in public and private forums. However, whether their efforts can succeed against the deeply entrenched MAGA faction and its supporters is uncertain. With each passing election, Trump’s influence seems only to deepen, leaving some Republicans to wonder if their party has truly been “killed” or if, one day, it can be brought back to life.
Reclaiming the GOP from Trump’s grip may require more than a handful of prominent critics. It may need an entire movement, one that can re-envision what the party stands for and create a viable alternative for Republican voters. For now, the vision of a post-Trump Republican Party remains aspirational, a possible future that lies just beyond the horizon.
