Is This What It Looks Like When A Party Falls Apart?

In this week’s politics chat, we discuss the implications of Donald Trump’s fight with Republican officials. The transcript below has been lightly edited.

micah (Micah Cohen, politics editor): Choosing a topic this week was easy, as the Republican Party appears to be ripping itself apart. So, today’s question: How freaking crazy is what we’re seeing?

harry (Harry Enten, senior political writer): I think it’s perfectly normal to have the Republican nominee bash the Republican speaker of the House on Twitter. It’s also perfectly normal for Republican candidates nationwide to denounce the Republican nominee.

No, it’s completely bat-crap insane.

micah: So, as of our latest count, about 1-in-5 GOP governors, U.S. representatives and U.S. senators have denounced Trump. More than that, obviously, have condemned his behavior on the tape.

So let’s start here: Is there any precedent for this? Does anything come close?

natesilver (Nate Silver, editor in chief): Not in my lifetime.

clare.malone (Clare Malone, senior political writer): Yeah, I think we might need a presidential historian up in here.

micah: Maybe @julia happens to be on slack?

harry: There’s no good precedent for this as far as I know. Obviously, there were party divisions in 1872 and 1896, for example, but this is something different.

natesilver: I like how you’re just trying to beam people into the chat without their permission, Micah. It’s very Star Trek.

micah: OK, so there’s no good precedent that we know of. So then what do we make of this? Is this what it looks like when a party falls apart?

natesilver: It’s just a flesh wound!

clare.malone: I think it’s what it looks like when the national part of a party falls apart, for sure — it’s like a top heavy ice cream cone losing that precarious third scoop on top.

harry: It’s very difficult to break apart how much of this is an ideological division versus a referendum on Trump’s personality.

natesilver: The Washington Post’s lede yesterday referred to how the Republican Party “tumbled toward anarchy Monday,” and that seemed totally appropriate. I feel bad for reporters in future campaigns who will probably be exaggerating if they use language like that. Not so this time, I don’t think.

clare.malone: Maybe let’s take it in baby bites, starting with Paul Ryan, right? That guy, the speaker of the House, just basically conceded that his party shouldn’t win the presidency. That is, pretty effing astounding.

harry: Paul Ryan faces a nearly impossible task: a majority of GOP voters like Trump; a majority of all voters don’t.

natesilver: I feel more sympathy for Ryan than a lot of other Republicans. #confessyourunpopularopinion

clare.malone: It’s definitely, as Harry said, driven by an unacceptable personality in the form of Trump, but he’s also the embodiment of an element of their party faithful. He’s revealing motivations that they’re not totally cool with, aka, xenophobia, racism, etc. The national Republicans would LOVE to be courting conservative Latinos.

julia (Julia Azari, associate political science professor at Marquette University and FiveThirtyEight contributor): I am here! What’s going on?

micah: Julia!!!

clare.malone: Love the guest appearance!

micah: