Donald Trump's actions as president and beyond may have shown the modern Republican Party "just how far they can go," according to Mary Trump.
Mary Trump, the niece of the former president and outspoken critic of his actions, made the observation during a recent episode of her podcast, The Mary Trump Show. She was speaking with political analyst David Rothkopf, who was promoting his newest book, American Resistance.
In speaking with Rothkopf, Trump mused that a different Republican president elected in 2016, such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz, would have hewed much more closely to political tradition than her uncle. Now, with her uncle having shown how much the party can get away with, she claimed that any future GOP president would be "an autocrat."
"Another thing that Donald has done is show Republicans just how far they can go," Mary Trump said. "Which is to say, I think they can go as far as they are allowed to. And again, I think Donald is a symptom...this is decades in the making. But I think he finally crossed the line and gave permission.
"So I think President Ted Cruz in 2016 would have been sort of a middle-of-the-road [leader] in a lot of ways. He would've played within the system, generally speaking, the way most other Republicans would have. Now, I think any Republican who got into the Oval Office in 2024 would be an autocrat, because they know that they can be," she added.
She continued, stating that she believes that it would not matter which Republican might win the White House, be it more extreme figures like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, or slightly less severe figures like Cruz, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, or Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
In response, Rothkopf, founder of TRG Media and frequent columnist for The Daily Beast, agreed with Trump's sentiment, though expressed doubt about some of the examples she listed as more decent alternatives to the former president.
"You're right, Donald Trump has redefined the parameters of what is considered acceptable 'presidenting' within the Republican Party," Rothkopf said. "I think there are people within the Republican Party that I disagree with on virtually every issue... I don't think I agree with [Wisconsin Representative] Liz Cheney on any issue. Would she have behaved this way? No... Would [former Vice President] Mike Pence have behaved this way? No...He has a modicum of respect for the law, he has a modicum of decency, so he wouldn't have behaved that way. Some of the others you described, I don't think they have a modicum of decency."
Speaking further, Rothkopf expressed concern over some figures on the right advocating for a "unitary executive" theory, which suggests that a president should hold more sweeping power, and suggesting that presidents should be above the law.
Newsweek reached out to the office of Donald Trump for comment.
The daughter of Donald Trump's late older brother, Fred Trump Jr., and a clinical psychologist, Mary Trump rose to prominence in late 2020 with the release of the tell-all book about her family history, Too Much and Never Enough, which was followed in 2021 by another book, The Reckoning. A registered Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, she has become a notable critic of her uncle's actions and policies in recent years.
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Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more