race. Trump has led nearly every major poll this year, and if he continues to win the

primaries by his current margins, experts say that by mid-March it will be virtually

impossible for another candidate to catch up. But despite his popularity among conservative

voters, the GOP establishment has vehemently opposed Trump, fearing that an anti-establishment

candidate would not be able to win the general election. So, how is the GOP trying to stop

Trump?

Well, as an infamously outrageous businessman and reality TV star, Trump is the definition

of an outsider candidate. Although his fundamentally conservative views echo those of many republican

voters, they are a far cry from the GOP’s future goals. These were outlined after the

2012 election loss, and include employing a more inclusive tone, appealing to minorities,

particularly hispanics and women, and lessening their dependence on affluent white men. Needless

to say, Trump does not meet any of these standards. For the Republican establishment, Trump not

only represents an ideological step backwards, but a sure loss in the general election.

So, to stop Trump from ever getting to that point, the GOP has employed its most powerful

ally, Fox News. Although the TV network features some pro-Trump programming, Fox has predominantly

rallied against the candidate. In the second Republican debate, Fox moderators immediately

focused on his potential run as a third party candidate and his history of misogynist statements.

This led to a nasty feud between Trump and Fox pundit Megyn Kelly, which later became

an all-out war between the network and the candidate. Even the CEO of Fox’s parent

company News Corp., Rupert Murdoch, publicly denounced Trump, and encouraged former New

York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run against him as third-party candidate.

But it’s not just conservative media attacking Trump. Super PACs like Our Principles and

Club For Growth mobilized an Anti-Trump campaign early on in the Primaries. Unlike many political

organizations, they are uniquely not aligned with a specific candidate. Their sole purpose

is to bring down Trump. Our Principles and Club for Growth, combined with smaller outside

groups have spent roughly $10 million dollars, mostly for ads that paint Trump as a closeted

liberal and urban elitist. Despite their efforts Trump has dominated the primaries thus far.

But these organizations claim that their efforts have significantly brought down his numbers

and promise to continue aggressively advertising.

But as Trump is getting closer and closer to winning the nomination, the GOP is rethinking

their anti-trump strategy. Several republican congress members, and even Trump’s former

opponents have recently come out in support of the candidate, like New Jersey governor

Chris Christie. Experts predict that if Trump continues to win primaries, he will gather

more and more GOP endorsements. This doesn’t necessarily mean that these candidates are

changing their minds about the Donald. Rather, it reflects the GOP’s vow to get behind

any republican candidate with a nomination, and their fear that a divided party will lose

the election. But with so many divides within the Republican party, a unified GOP remains

in the distant future.

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Even without the influence of Donald Trump, the Republican party has been continually

splitting in half for the past few years. Learn about the GOP’s struggles in our video.

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