NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — Republicans and former Republicans gathered outside Washington this weekend warned over and over again that President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are tearing apart the fundamental fabric of American democracy.
One former congressman described the president’s party as an “authoritarian cult.” A prominent conservative writer says Trumpism is an “existential threat.” A retired Army general, whose voice shakes with emotion, sees post-Nazi Germany as a road map for the country’s post-Trump recovery.
It was unclear how many people were listening.
The main conference hall for the sixth annual Principles First summit, held Saturday and Sunday, was half-empty. There are about 750 chairs in a room that can accommodate thousands of people, and many of them are empty. Not a single current Republican elected official attended the two-day event.
That’s what’s left of the big party’s “Never Trump” movement, a coalition of Republicans, former Republicans and independents who banded together as Trump consolidated power. They remain largely political exiles — less familiar with the Democratic Party but disgusted by the president’s abandonment of longstanding Republican commitments to free trade and limited government.
John McDowell, 69, a Republican until Trump came to power, acknowledged that this dwindling group had almost “zero” political influence within his former party.
“It’s just a fact. We’re losing good people,” said McDowell, a former Capitol Hill staffer and county Republican official from San Carlos, California. “The party is becoming more and more MAGA.”
White House press secretary Abigail Jackson dismissed all criticism from what she called “a bunch of deranged has-been politicians.”
“The only people who are going to pay attention to this are the reporters who are forced to report on it,” she said.
Nearly everyone gathered at a National Harbor hotel in Maryland said they supported a Democratic victory in this fall’s midterm elections. One of the only Democrats on the floor was Conor Lamb, a former Pennsylvania congressman who lost a party primary to John Fetterman four years ago.
Despite serious concerns, there was a sense of optimism in the half-empty conference halls and quiet hotel corridors.
Some cheered last week’s Supreme Court decision to strike down Trump’s tariffs, an economic tool Trump has used without congressional approval to try to force friends and foes around the world to bend to his will. Despite the ruling, Trump insisted he would impose a new round of tariffs.
Former New Jersey Governor and former Trump adviser Chris Christie emphasized that a recent Associated Press-NORC poll showed that a quarter of Republicans nationwide disapproved of Trump’s job performance.
“It’s like any show that’s on television for a long time – the ratings start to drop. And the ratings are dropping,” Christie said. “I’m willing to bet you that by next February this room will be twice the size it is now. After the midterm elections, you’ll see.”
Former MAGA diehard Rich Logis, wearing a red “I’m Leaving MAGA hat,” hopes to see “an electoral revolt against MAGA” in the midterm elections.
“I think our country is shifting right now,” he said. “It happens slowly.”
Logis set up a support group for friends and family members of Trump loyalists at a table outside the chamber. Someone nearby was selling books on how to escape a cult.
From the podium, former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh implored Trump’s critics not to downplay the seriousness of the threat the president poses to the country.
“He was everything our founders feared. Say it. Believe it,” said Walsh. He said his former party was “an authoritarian cult” that “posed a threat to everything I loved.”
Retired general Mark Hertling, who commanded U.S. Army Europe, said he was “haunted” by allies who asked him whether “American institutions can ever be trusted again.”
“Our nation’s institutions have been shaken. Our alliances have been strained. Our credibility has been damaged. Our nation’s values have been cast aside,” Hertling said. He suggested that if the United States hopes to undo the damage caused by Trump and his allies, it should focus on the reconstruction of Germany after defeating the Nazis.
The country’s recovery will be something that will take years of hard work, he said, his voice breaking.
Bill Kristol, who worked in previous Republican administrations and helped found the Weekly Standard magazine, described Trump and his Republican backers in Congress as an “existential threat” to the country. But he is also optimistic about the upcoming midterm elections.
Kristol said Democrats are “almost certain to win the House,” “likely to win the Senate,” and “very likely to win the 2028 presidential election.”
Brittany Martinez, executive director of the host group Principles First, also tried to strike an optimistic tone, even as she described the many reasons why she couldn’t bear to continue working as a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill.
“I hope Republicans continue to wake up,” she said. “I do think these people exist. And I wish there were more of them.”
