Gen Z GOP: Young anti-Trump Republicans rally to revive 'dying' party hijacked by 'authoritarian populism'
Gen Z'ers are reportedly proving that their generation is a "credible threat" to President Donald J. Trump's re-election, and this is not the first time that youngsters are influencing his success. During Trump's historic campaign in 2016, several photos of youngsters wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats inundated the news cycle. Following the former real estate mogul's victory, GOP pundits argued that mainstream polls that projected Trump was trailing behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had failed to account for these first-time voters who voted for Trump.
But a group of young anti-Trump Republicans is now saying they want to build the GOP of the future by providing a better alternative to the so-called "radical left." Gen Z GOP is a Massachusetts-based group that was officially launched over the weekend. A promotional video for the group lays out a vision for a new Republican Party that attracts the youngest generation of voters.
Samuel Garber, a freshman at Bates College, said the group “vehemently opposes” a lot of what the modern left stands for, but said ratcheting up the rhetoric on the right would only drive youngster "further away from the Republican Party."
“We are somewhere in the middle, where a majority of the country and state (Massachusetts) is,” Garber said. "In our organization's view, the Republican Party is dying and in dire need of rebuilding and that's what we want to do for it."
The group says in the promotional video that the Republican Party has been “hijacked” in recent years.
“As Republicans, we believe that the party of Lincoln is worth saving from its current flirtation with authoritarian populism,” the narrator says. “But we do not seek to return to the politics of the past. We seek to present a new vision — a vision that does not cave to the polarized choices of left and right, but one that embraces nuance, freedom, and opportunity.”
That said, the Gen Z GOP promotes bipartisan reform for border security, free trade and fiscal responsibility, as well as private-public partnerships to facilitate accessible health care. “We strive to be a GOP that pursues climate change solutions that harness American innovation and create green energy jobs,” the narrator continues. “A GOP that can embrace Americans of all backgrounds, proudly proclaim that Black Lives Matter and work to combat injustice and inequality.”
Mike Brodo, a junior at Georgetown University, told the Boston Herald that one of the reasons for forming the group was “unproductive discourse” from the Massachusetts Republican Party. “The current leadership is caving to the national GOP playbook,” Brodo said of MassGOP. “It’s that unproductive discourse that turns Gen Z away from the political party.”
Meanwhile, MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons has said he looks forward to having a conversation with the Gen Z GOP organizers. “Our basic platform is freedom, individual liberty, personal responsibility, and a free-market system rooted in capitalism," Lyons said in response to their criticism. He added that the “radical left on Beacon Hill attacking our police is something we should all be concerned about.”
Following their promotional video that went viral over the weekend, Gen Z GOP has also launched their podcast today.