The Republican Party renominated President Trump on Monday without a whiff of controversy. This was always going to be the result since Trump did not have a strong primary opponent, and because he enjoys overwhelming support among members of his own party. But it’s worth noting how much has changed since the GOP’s last convention four years ago.
In 2016, Republicans were still hesitant to endorse Trump for president even after it became clear that he had won the nomination. Conservatives were stunned when Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who was speaker of the House at the time, formally endorsed Trump in a column published in his hometown newspaper. But Ryan’s endorsement was still distant. He made it clear that he would not campaign for Trump, nor support his confrontational style, and he refrained from commenting on any of Trump’s policies directly.
“I had friends wishing I wouldn’t support him. I had friends wishing I would,” Ryan explained after the fact. “I really didn’t feel any pressure, other than my goal is to make sure that we’re unified so that we’re at full strength in the fall so we can win the election.”
Most Republicans who agreed to back Trump followed Ryan’s example. Their endorsements were always accompanied by an explanation: ‘Trump is better than Hillary Clinton,’ ‘We don’t need to agree with every single thing he says or does,’ or, ‘Our constitutional system will keep his worst impulses in check.’
Georgia Sen. David Perdue summed up most Republicans’ thoughts at the time: “Get over it,” he said. “Do you want Hillary Clinton? I mean, that’s the alternative. This is not about whether we’re agreeing with every single thing Donald Trump says. We never agree 100% with any presidential candidate.”
Others, however, refused to give Trump even that much. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who came in second to Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential race, famously refused to endorse Trump during the party’s convention, urging Republicans to instead “vote your conscience.”
“To those listening, please, don’t stay home in November,” he said. “Stand and speak and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
Four years later and Cruz has become one of Trump’s biggest advocates. Few of the congressional Republicans who were skeptical of Trump in 2016 oppose the president today — or, if they do, they’re unwilling to say it. Those who did want to challenge Trump had to leave the party to do so. Think back to Justin Amash’s brief third party bid, or Joe Walsh’s experimental, Never Trump campaign: These were challengers who don’t even consider themselves Republicans anymore.
While no incumbent president has lost a primary challenge in modern history, many have at least faced an intra-party challenger. For example, former President Gerald Ford had to fight Ronald Reagan for the 1976 nomination; former President Jimmy Carter faced off against Ted Kennedy in 1980; and former President George H.W. Bush was challenged by Pat Buchanan in 1992.
Trump’s primary challengers barely lasted two months. And his hold on the GOP is so strong that his vice president, Mike Pence, was renominated by acclamation on Monday. Delegates didn’t even bother to take roll call.
For better or worse, the Republican Party is very clearly Trump’s party. That could change if he loses to Joe Biden in November. But for right now, Trump is enjoying total party unity.
