NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — Again and again, Republicans and former Republicans who rallied just outside Washington this weekend warned that President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are tearing at the very fabric of American democracy.
One former congressman described the president’s party as an “authoritarian-embracing cult.” A prominent conservative writer has called Trumpism an “existential threat.” And a retired Army general, his voice shaking with emotion, cited post-Nazi Germany as a road map for the nation’s post-Trump recovery.
It’s not clear how many people are listening.
The main convention hall at the sixth annual Principles First Summit on Saturday and Sunday was half empty. About 750 chairs were arranged in a room that could have held thousands, and many were unoccupied. Not a single Republican incumbent attended the two-day program.
This is what remains of the Grand Old Party’s Never Trump movement, a coalition of Republicans, former Republicans and independents who have come together to see Trump consolidate his power. They remain largely political exiles — not quite at home among Democrats, but disgusted with how the president has abandoned longstanding Republican commitments to free trade and limited government.
John McDowell, 69, who was a lifelong Republican before Trump came along, acknowledged that the shrinking group had virtually “zero” political influence in his former party.
“It’s just a fact. We’re losing good people,” said McDowell, a former Capitol Hill staffer and Republican official from San Carlos, California. “The party is becoming more and more interested in MAGA.”
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dismissed all criticism from what she called “a bunch of deranged politicians.”
“The only people who will pay attention to this event are the journalists who are forced to cover it,” she said.
Virtually everyone who gathered at the hotel in National Harbor, Maryland, said they were rooting for Democratic victories in this fall’s midterm elections. One of the only Democrats there was Conor Lamb, a former congressman from Pennsylvania who lost his party’s primary to John Fetterman four years ago.
Despite the dire concerns, there was a slight sense of optimism among the half-empty convention hall and quiet hotel hallways.
Several people cheered the Supreme Court’s decision last week to strike down Trump’s tariffs, the economic tool he has wielded without congressional approval in his bid to force friends and foes around the globe to bend to his will. Trump insisted he would implement a new round of tariffs despite the decision.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former Trump adviser, pointed to recent AP-NORC polls showing 1 in 4 Republicans nationally disapprove of Trump’s job performance.
“It’s like any show that’s been on TV for a long time — the ratings start to drop. And the ratings are going down,” Christie said. “I’m willing to bet you that by February, this room will be twice as big as it is now. After the semester, watch.”
Former MAGA Rich Logis, wearing a red “I left MAGA” hat, hopes to see “an electoral revolt against MAGA” in the midterms.
“I think there’s a shift in our country right now,” he said. “It’s happening slowly.”
Logis was promoting support groups for friends and family of Trump loyalists at a table outside the convention hall. Nearby, someone was selling books on how to escape cults.
At the podium, former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh implored Trump’s critics not to downplay the gravity of the threat the president poses to the nation.
“He is everything our founders feared. He says it. He believes it,” Walsh said. He said his former party was “a cult that embraces authoritarianism” and “a threat to everything I love”.
Retired General Mark Hertling, who once commanded the US military’s European forces, said he is “haunted” by allies who question “whether American institutions can ever be trusted”.
“Our nation’s institutions have been shaken. Our alliances have been strained. Our credibility has been damaged. And our nation’s values have been cast aside,” Hertling said. He suggested that the US should look to the reconstruction of Germany after the defeat of Nazism if it hopes to repair the damage caused by Trump and his allies.
The recovery of the nation, he said as his voice broke, would be something that people must earn over many years.
Bill Kristol, who worked in previous Republican administrations and helped found the Weekly Standard magazine, described Trump and his Republican supporters in Congress as “an existential threat” to the nation. But he was also optimistic about the upcoming midterm elections.
Kristol said Democrats are “almost certain to win the House,” “might win the Senate” and have “a good shot at winning the presidency” in 2028.
Brittany Martinez, executive director of host organization Principles First, also tried to strike an upbeat tone, even as she described the many reasons she couldn’t bear to continue her career as a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill.
“I hope the Republicans continue to wake up,” she said. “I believe these people exist. And I hope they exist in greater numbers.”