During the presidency ofBarack Obama, the Republican Party experienced internal conflict between its governing class (known as the Republican establishment) and the anti-establishment, small-governmentTea Party movement.[4][5][6][7] In 2019, during the presidency ofDonald Trump, Perry Bacon Jr. of FiveThirtyEight.com asserted that there were five groups of Republicans: Trumpists, Pro-Trumpers, Trump-Skeptical Conservatives, Trump-Skeptical Moderates, and Anti-Trumpers.[8]
In March 2021, one survey indicated that five factions of Republican voters had emerged following Trump's presidency: Never Trump, Post-Trump G.O.P. (voters who liked Trump but did not want him to run for president again), Trump Boosters (voters who approved of Trump, but identified more closely with the Republican Party than with Trump), Die-hard Trumpers, andInfowars G.O.P. (voters who subscribe to conspiracy theories).[11] In November 2021,Pew Research Center identified four Republican-aligned groups of Americans: Faith and Flag Conservatives, Committed Conservatives, the Populist Right, and the Ambivalent Right.[12]
Conservatives generally opposeaffirmative action, support increased military spending, and are opposed togun control. On the issue ofschool vouchers, conservative Republicans split between supporters who believe that "big government education" is a failure and opponents who fear greater government control over private and church schools. Parts of the conservative wing have been criticized for beinganti-environmentalist[25][26][27] and promotingclimate change denial[28][29][30] in opposition to the generalscientific consensus, making them unique even among other worldwide conservative parties.[30]
Long-term shifts in conservative thinking following the election of Trump have been described as a "newfusionism" of traditional conservative ideology and right-wing populist themes.[31] These have resulted in shifts towards greater support ofnational conservatism,[32] protectionism,[33]cultural conservatism, a morerealist foreign policy, skepticism ofneoconservatism, reduced efforts to roll back entitlement programs, and a disdain for traditional checks and balances.[31][34]
Moderate Republicans tend to be conservative-to-moderate on fiscal issues and moderate-to-liberal on social issues, and usually representswing states orblue states. Moderate Republican voters are typicallyhighly educated,[71] affluent, socially moderate or liberal and often part of theNever Trump movement.[72] Ideologically, such Republicans resemble theconservative liberals of Europe.[73]
One of the most high-ranking moderate Republicans in recent history wasColin Powell as Secretary of State in the first term of theGeorge W. Bush administration (Powell left the Republican Party in January 2021 following the2021 storming of the United States Capitol, and had endorsed every Democrat for president in the general election since 2008).[90]
Neoconservatives promote aninterventionist foreign policy and democracy or American interests abroad. Neoconservatives have been credited with importing into the Republican Party a more active international policy. They are amenable tounilateral military action when they believe it serves a morally valid purpose (such as the spread of democracy or deterrence of human rights abuses abroad). They are grounded in arealist philosophy of "peace through strength."[91][92][93][94] Many of its adherents became politically famous during the Republican presidential administrations of the late 20th century, and neoconservatism peaked in influence during the administration ofGeorge W. Bush andDick Cheney during the 2000s, when they played a major role in promoting and planning the2003 invasion of Iraq.[95]
SenatorsJohn McCain andMitt Romney, both former Republican presidential nominees, were two of the most prominent early voices within the Republican Party to publicly condemn Donald Trump andhis ideology.
A divide has formed in the party between those who remain loyal to Donald Trump and those who oppose him.[106] A recent survey concluded that the Republican Party was divided between pro-Trump (the "Trump Boosters," "Die-hard Trumpers," and "Infowars G.O.P." wings) and anti-Trump factions (the "Never Trump" and "Post-Trump G.O.P." wings).[11] SenatorJohn McCain was an early leading critic of Trumpism within the Republican Party,refusing to support the then-Republican presidential nominee in the2016 presidential election.[107]
Several critics of the Trump faction have faced various forms of retaliation. RepresentativeLiz Cheney was removed from her position as Republican conference chair in theHouse of Representatives, which was perceived as retaliation for her criticism of Trump;[108] in 2022, she was defeated by a pro-Trump primary challenger.[109] RepresentativeAdam Kinzinger decided to retire at the end of his term, while Murkowski faced a pro-Trump primary challenge in2022 againstKelly Tshibaka whom she defeated.[110][111] A primary challenge to Romney had been suggested[112] byJason Chaffetz, who has criticized his opponents within the Republican Party as "Trump haters".[113] Romney chose not to run for re-election in2024.[114]
Rachel Kleinfeld, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, characterizes Trumpism as an authoritarian, antidemocratic movement which has successfully weaponized cultural issues, and that cultivates a narrative placing white people, Christians, and men at the top of a status hierarchy as its response to the so-called "Great Replacement" theory, a claim that minorities, immigrants, and women, enabled by Democrats, Jews, and elites, are displacing white people, Christians, and men from their "rightful" positions in American society.[138] In international relations, Trumpists supportU.S. aid to Israel but not to Ukraine,[139][140] are generally supportive towardsRussia,[141][142][143] yet claim to favor anisolationist "America First" foreign policy agenda.[144][145][146][147] They generally reject compromise within the party and withDemocrats,[148][149] and are willing to oust fellow Republican office holders they deem to be too moderate.[150][151] Compared to other Republicans, the Trumpist faction is more likely to be immigration restrictionists,[152] and to be againstfree trade,[153]neoconservatism,[154] andenvironmental protection laws.[155]
The Republican Party's Trumpist and far-right movements emerged in occurrence with a global increase in such movements in the 2010s and 2020s,[156][157] coupled with entrenchment and increased partisanship within the party since 2010, fueled by the rise of theTea Party movement which has also been described as far-right.[158] The election of Trump in 2016 split the party into Trumpist andNever Trump factions.[159][160]
When conservative columnistGeorge Will advised voters of all ideologies to vote for Democratic candidates in the Senate and House elections of November 2018,[161] political writer Dan McLaughlin at theNational Review responded that doing so would make the Trumpist faction even more powerful within the Republican party.[162] Anticipating Trump's defeat in the U.S. presidential election held on November 3, 2020,Peter Feaver wrote inForeign Policy magazine: "With victory having been so close, the Trumpist faction in the party will be empowered and in no mood to compromise or reform."[163] A poll conducted in February 2021 indicated that a plurality of Republicans (46% versus 27%) would leave the Republican Party to join a new party if Trump chose to create it.[164] Nick Beauchamp, assistant professor of political science atNortheastern University, says he sees the country as divided into four parties, with two factions representing each of the Democratic and Republican parties: "For the GOP, there's the Trump faction—which is the larger group—and the non-Trump faction".[165]
Lilliana Mason, associate professor of political science atJohns Hopkins University, states that Donald Trump solidified the trend amongSouthern whiteconservative Democrats since the 1960s ofleaving the Democratic Party and joining the Republican Party: "Trump basically worked as a lightning rod to finalize that process of creating the Republican Party as a single entity for defending the high status of white, Christian, rural Americans. It's not a huge percentage of Americans that holds these beliefs, and it's not even the entire Republican Party; it's just about half of it. But the party itself is controlled by this intolerant, very strongly pro-Trump faction."[166]
Julia Azari, an associate professor of political science atMarquette University, noted that not all Trumpist Republicans are public supporters of Donald Trump, and that some Republicans endorse Trump policies while distancing themselves from Trump as a person.[167]
In a speech he gave on November 2, 2022, at Washington's Union Station near the U.S. Capitol, President Biden asserted that "the pro-Trump faction" of the Republican Party is trying to undermine the U.S. electoral system and suppress voting rights.[168][169]
TheStalwarts were a traditionalist faction that existed from the 1860s through the 1880s. They represented "traditional" Republicans who favoredmachine politics and opposed thecivil service reforms ofRutherford B. Hayes and the more progressiveHalf-Breeds.[182] They declined following the elections of Hayes andJames A. Garfield. After Garfield's assassination byCharles J. Guiteau, his Stalwart Vice PresidentChester A. Arthur assumed the presidency. However, rather than pursuing Stalwart goals he took up the reformist cause, which curbed the faction's influence.[183]
TheHalf-Breeds were a reformist faction of the 1870s and 1880s. The name, which originated with rivals claiming they were only "half" Republicans, came to encompass a wide array of figures who did not all get along with each other. Generally speaking, politicians labeled Half-Breeds were moderates or progressives who opposed the machine politics of the Stalwarts and advanced civil service reforms.[183]
TheRadical Republicans were a major factor of the party from its inception in 1854 until the end of theReconstruction Era in 1877. The Radicals strongly opposedslavery, were hard-lineabolitionists, and later advocated equal rights for thefreedmen and women. They were often at odds with the moderate and conservative factions of the party. During theAmerican Civil War, Radical Republicans pressed for abolition as a major war aim and they opposed the moderate Reconstruction plans ofAbraham Lincoln as too lenient on theConfederates. After the war's end and Lincoln's assassination, the Radicals clashed withAndrew Johnson over Reconstruction policy.[184]
After winning major victories in the1866 congressional elections, the Radicals took over Reconstruction, pushing through new legislation protecting the civil rights of African Americans.John C. Frémont of Michigan, the party's first nominee for president in 1856, was a Radical Republican. Upset with Lincoln's politics, the faction split from the Republican Party to form the short-livedRadical Democratic Party in 1864 and again nominatedFrémont for president. They supportedUlysses S. Grant for president in 1868 and 1872, who worked closely with them to protect African Americans during Reconstruction. AsSouthern Democrats retook control in the South and enthusiasm for continued Reconstruction declined in the North, their influence within the GOP waned.[184]
After Roosevelt's 1912 defeat, the progressive wing of the party went into decline. Progressive Republicans in theU.S. House of Representatives held a "last stand" protest in December 1923, at the start of the68th Congress, when they refused to support theRepublican Conference nominee forSpeaker of the House,Frederick H. Gillett, voting instead for two other candidates. After eight ballots spanning two days, they agreed to support Gillett in exchange for a seat on theHouse Rules Committee and pledges that subsequent rules changes would be considered. On the ninth ballot, Gillett received 215 votes, a majority of the 414 votes cast, to win the election.[187]
The Old Guard was the conservative faction of the Republican Party between 1945 and 1964. They coalesced around their opposition to the shifts in traditional economic and foreign policy under the presidency ofFranklin D. Roosevelt. This opposition was most noticeably directed to theNew Deal, which was variously derided by Old Guard lawmakers as communist, socialist, or overreaching, seeing its programs as unwanted, unconstitutional, unwise, and politically unprofitable.[189]
To counter the New Deal, Republicans of the Old Guard espousedAmericanism, which entailed astrict construction of theConstitution,fiscal responsibility, and state and local over federal regulation. Politically, they opposed federal regulation of state, local, or business interests. They viewed “big government” as a threat to liberty, which they interpreted aseconomic freedom, which they saw as critical to incentivizing individuals to improve their material welfare and develop the pioneer virtues ofindividualism and self-reliance. The Old Guard also espoused aunilateralist foreign policy, eschewing alliances that entailed advance military commitments while “go[ing] it alone” in foreign engagements. This also entailedeconomic self-sufficiency, prioritizing American financial interests, and thus partially informed the Old Guard’s support for tariffs on imports and opposition to foreign aid.[189]
In the 1964 Republican primaries, the John Birch Society (JBS) helped to secureBarry Goldwater’s Republican presidential nomination, defeating Nelson Rockefeller. Original members believed the Republican party was in danger of becoming too moderate.[192] Members of the John Birch Society, known as Birchers, were associated with theradical right,anti-communism, andultraconservatism.[193][page needed] The John Birch Society was founded in 1958 by businessmanRobert W. Welch Jr., and is controversial for its promotion ofconspiracy theories.[194]
Vice PresidentNelson Rockefeller, namesake of the Rockefeller Republicans
Moderate or liberal Republicans in the 20th century, particularly those from the Northeast and West Coast, were referred to as "The Eastern Establishment" or "Rockefeller Republicans", afterNelson Rockefeller, Vice President during theGerald Ford administration.[195][196][197]
With their power decreasing in the final decades of the 20th century, many Rockefeller-style Republicans were replaced by conservative and moderate Democrats, such as those from theBlue Dog orNew Democrat coalitions. Massachusetts RepublicanElliot Richardson (who served in several cabinet positions during theRichard Nixon administration) and writer and academicMichael Lind argued that the liberalism of Democratic PresidentBill Clinton and the rest of theNew Democrat movement were in many ways to the right ofDwight Eisenhower, Rockefeller, andJohn Lindsay, Republican Congressman and Mayor of New York City in the late 1960s.[198][199]
PresidentRonald Reagan, namesake of the Reagan coalition
According to historianGeorge H. Nash, the Reagan coalition in the Republican Party, which centered aroundRonald Reagan and his administration throughout all of the 1980s (continuing in the late 1980s with theGeorge H. W. Bush administration), originally consisted of five factions: the libertarians, the traditionalists, the anti-communists, the neoconservatives, and the religious right (which consisted of Protestants, Catholics, and some Jewish Republicans).[17][200]
On matters of foreign policy, the movement largely supports avoiding being drawn into unnecessary conflicts and opposes "liberal internationalism".[209] Its name refers to theBoston Tea Party of December 16, 1773, a watershed event in the launch of theAmerican Revolution.[210] By 2016,Politico said that the modern Tea Party movement was "pretty much dead now"; however, the article noted that it seemed to die in part because some of its ideas had been "co-opted" by the mainstream Republican Party.[211]
Several political organizations were created in response to the movement's growing popularity in the late 2000s and into the early 2010s, including theTea Party Patriots,Tea Party Express andTea Party Caucus.
^Aratani, Lauren (February 26, 2021)."Republicans unveil two minimum wage bills in response to Democrats' push".The Guardian. Archived fromthe original on August 14, 2021. RetrievedFebruary 8, 2024.In keeping with the party's deep division between its dominant Trumpist faction and its more traditionalist party elites, the twin responses seem aimed at appealing on one hand to its corporate-friendly allies and on the other hand to its populist rightwing base. Both have an anti-immigrant element.
^Dunlap, Riley E.; McCright, Araon M. (August 7, 2010). "A Widening Gap: Republican and Democratic Views on Climate Change".Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development.50 (5):26–35.doi:10.3200/ENVT.50.5.26-35.S2CID154964336.
^Båtstrand, Sondre (2015). "More than Markets: A Comparative Study of Nine Conservative Parties on Climate Change".Politics and Policy.43 (4):538–561.doi:10.1111/polp.12122.ISSN1747-1346.The U.S. Republican Party is an anomaly in denying anthropogenic climate change.
^abChait, Jonathan (September 27, 2015)."Why Are Republicans the Only Climate-Science-Denying Party in the World?".New York.Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 20, 2017.Of all the major conservative parties in the democratic world, the Republican Party stands alone in its denial of the legitimacy of climate science. Indeed, the Republican Party stands alone in its conviction that no national or international response to climate change is needed. To the extent that the party is divided on the issue, the gap separates candidates who openly dismiss climate science as a hoax, and those who, shying away from the political risks of blatant ignorance, instead couch their stance in the alleged impossibility of international action.
^Whitehead, Andrew L.; Perry, Samuel L.; Baker, Joseph O. (January 25, 2018). "Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election".Sociology of Religion.79 (2):147–171.doi:10.1093/socrel/srx070.The current study establishes that, independent of these influences, voting for Trump was, at least for many Americans, a symbolic defense of the United States' perceived Christian heritage. Data from a national probability sample of Americans surveyed soon after the 2016 election shows that greater adherence to Christian nationalist ideology was a robust predictor of voting for Trump, even after controlling for economic dissatisfaction, sexism, anti-black prejudice, anti-Muslim refugee attitudes, and anti-immigrant sentiment, as well as measures of religion, sociodemographics, and political identity more generally.
^Deckman, Melissa Marie (2004).School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics. Georgetown University Press. p. 48.ISBN9781589010017. RetrievedApril 10, 2014.More than half of all Christian right candidates attend evangelical Protestant churches, which are more theologically liberal. A relatively large number of Christian Right candidates (24 percent) are Catholics; however, when asked to describe themselves as either "progressive/liberal" or "traditional/conservative" Catholics, 88 percent of these Christian right candidates place themselves in the traditional category.
^Slomp, Hans (2011).Europe: A Political Profile. Vol. 1.ABC-CLIO. p. 107.ISBN978-0-313-39182-8.Most European liberals are Conservative Liberals, located at the right end of the left-right line, exactly opposite the American liberals' position. If transplanted to the United States, they would occupy the Left wing and the center of the Republican Party. Only the less numerous social liberals resemble American liberals.
^K. Dodds, K. and S. Elden, "Thinking Ahead: David Cameron, the Henry Jackson Society and BritishNeoConservatism,"British Journal of Politics and International Relations (2008), 10(3): 347–63.
^Arhin, Kofi; Stockemer, Daniel; Normandin, Marie-Soleil (May 29, 2023). "THE REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER: A Populist Radical Right Voter Like Any Other?".World Affairs.186 (3).doi:10.1177/0043820023117681 (inactive July 12, 2025).ISSN1940-1582.In this article, we first illustrate that the Republican Party, or at least the dominant wing, which supports or tolerates Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again (MAGA) agenda have become a proto-typical populist radical right-wing party (PRRP).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^Aratani, Lauren (February 26, 2021)."Republicans unveil two minimum wage bills in response to Democrats' push".The Guardian. Archived fromthe original on August 14, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 7, 2021.In keeping with the party's deep division between its dominant Trumpist faction and its more traditionalist party elites, the twin responses seem aimed at appealing on one hand to its corporate-friendly allies and on the other hand to its populist rightwing base. Both have an anti-immigrant element.
^Lillis, Mike (February 28, 2024)."GOP strained by Trump-influenced shift from Reagan on Russia".The Hill. Archived fromthe original on February 28, 2024. RetrievedFebruary 28, 2024.Experts say a variety of factors have led to the GOP's more lenient approach to Moscow, some of which preceded Trump's arrival on the political scene ... Trump's popularity has only encouraged other Republicans to adopt a soft-gloves approach to Russia.
^Jonathan, Chait (February 23, 2024)."Russian Dolls Trump has finally remade Republicans into Putin's playthings".Intelligencer. RetrievedFebruary 28, 2024.But during his time in office and after, Trump managed to create, from the grassroots up, a Republican constituency for Russia-friendly policy ... Conservatives vying to be the Trumpiest of them all have realized that supporting Russia translates in the Republican mind as a proxy for supporting Trump. Hence the politicians most willing to defend his offenses against democratic norms — Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan, Tommy Tuberville, Mike Lee, J. D. Vance — hold the most anti-Ukraine or pro-Russia views. Conversely, the least-Trumpy Republicans, such as Mitch McConnell and Mitt Romney, have the most hawkish views on Russia. The rapid growth of Trump's once-unique pro-Russia stance is a gravitational function of his personality cult.
^Baker, Paula; Critchlow, Donald T. (2020).The Oxford Handbook of American Political History. Oxford University Press. p. 387.ISBN978-0190628697.Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. RetrievedApril 23, 2021 – via Google Books.Contemporary debate is fueled on one side by immigration restrictionists, led by President Donald Trump and other elected republicans, whose rhetorical and policy assaults on undocumented Latin American immigrants, Muslim refugees, and family-based immigration energized their conservative base.
^Jones, Kent (2021). "Populism, Trade, and Trump's Path to Victory".Populism and Trade: The Challenge to the Global Trading System.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0190086350.
^Smith, Jordan Michael; Logis, Rich; Logis, Rich; Shephard, Alex; Shephard, Alex; Kipnis, Laura; Kipnis, Laura; Haas, Lidija; Haas, Lidija (October 17, 2022)."The Neocons Are Losing. Why Aren't We Happy?".The New Republic.ISSN0028-6583.Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. RetrievedMay 5, 2023.
^Lizza, Ryan (December 7, 2015)."A House divided".The New Yorker. RetrievedApril 10, 2017.Meadows is one of the more active members of the House Freedom Caucus, an invitation-only group of about forty right-wing conservatives that formed at the beginning of this year.
^"Stalwart".Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. RetrievedNovember 21, 2017.
^abPeskin, Allan (1984–1985). "Who Were the Stalwarts? Who Were Their Rivals? Republican Factions in the Gilded Age".Political Science Quarterly.99 (4):703–716.doi:10.2307/2150708.JSTOR2150708.
^Milkis, Sidney (October 4, 2016)."Theodore Roosevelt: Domestic Affairs". Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2019.
^Arnold, Peri E. (October 4, 2016)."William Taft: Domestic Affairs". Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. RetrievedFebruary 20, 2019.
^Somin, Ilya, The Tea Party Movement and Popular Constitutionalism (May 26, 2011). Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, Vol. 105, p. 300, 2011 (Colloquy on the Constitutional Politics of the Tea Party Movement), George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 11-22, Available at SSRN:https://ssrn.com/abstract=1853645
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