Editing Republican Party (United States) (section)

== Factions ==
{{main|Factions in the Republican Party (United States)}}

=== Civil War and Reconstruction era ===
{{main|Radical Republicans}}
[[File:Thaddeus Stevens - Brady-Handy-crop.jpg|thumb|U.S. representative [[Thaddeus Stevens]], considered a leader of the Radical Republicans, was a fierce opponent of slavery and discrimination against [[African Americans]].]]

During the 19th century, Republican factions included the [[Radical Republicans]]. They were a major factor of the party from its inception in 1854 until the end of the [[Reconstruction Era]] in 1877. They strongly opposed [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], were hard-line [[Abolitionism|abolitionists]], and later advocated equal rights for the [[freedmen]] and women. They were heavily influenced by religious ideals and [[Evangelicalism|evangelical Christianity]]; many were [[Christians|Christian]] reformers who saw [[Slavery as a positive good in the United States|slavery as evil]] and the Civil War as God's punishment for it.<ref name="Howard2015">{{cite book |first=Victor B. |last=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bIfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |title=Religion and the Radical Republican Movement, 1860–1870 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-8131-6144-0 |access-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215023724/https://books.google.com/books?id=6bIfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> Radical Republicans pressed for abolition as a major war aim and they opposed the moderate Reconstruction plans of Abraham Lincoln as both too lenient on the [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] and not going far enough to help former slaves who had been freed during or after the Civil War by the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] and the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Thirteenth Amendment]]. After the war's end and Lincoln's assassination, the Radicals clashed with [[Andrew Johnson]] over Reconstruction policy. Radicals led efforts after the war to establish civil rights for former slaves and fully implement emancipation. After unsuccessful measures in 1866 resulted in violence against former slaves in the rebel states, Radicals pushed the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] for statutory protections through [[United States Congress|Congress]]. They opposed allowing ex-[[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] officers to retake political power in the [[Southern U.S.]], and emphasized liberty, equality, and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifteenth Amendment]] which provided [[voting rights]] for the [[Freedman#United States|freedmen]]. Many later became [[Stalwarts]], who supported machine politics.

[[Moderate Republicans (Reconstruction era)|Moderate Republicans]] were known for their loyal support of President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s war policies and expressed antipathy towards the more militant stances advocated by the Radical Republicans. According to historian [[Eric Foner]], congressional leaders of the faction were [[James G. Blaine]], [[John A. Bingham]], [[William P. Fessenden]], [[Lyman Trumbull]], and [[John Sherman]]. In contrast to Radicals, Moderate Republicans were less enthusiastic on the issue of Black suffrage even while embracing civil equality and the expansive federal authority observed throughout the [[American Civil War]]. They were also skeptical of the lenient, conciliatory Reconstruction policies of President Andrew Johnson. Members of the Moderate Republicans comprised in part of previous Radical Republicans who became disenchanted with the alleged corruption of the latter faction. [[Charles Sumner]], a [[Massachusetts]] senator who led Radical Republicans in the 1860s, later joined reform-minded moderates as he later opposed the corruption associated with the [[Grant administration]]. They generally opposed efforts by [[Radical Republicans]] to rebuild the Southern U.S. under an economically mobile, [[Free market|free-market]] system.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Foner |first=Eric |title=Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 |year=1988 |edition=1st |pages=236–37 |author-link=Eric Foner}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
[[File:Goldwater-Reagan in 1964.jpg|thumb|[[Ronald Reagan]] speaks in support of Republican presidential candidate [[Barry Goldwater]] during the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964 presidential campaign]]]]
The dawn on the 20th century saw the Republican party split into an [[Old Right (United States)|Old Right]] and a moderate-liberal faction in the Northeast that eventually became known as [[Rockefeller Republicans]]. Opposition to Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] saw the formation of the [[conservative coalition]].<ref name="Bowen"/> The 1950s saw [[fusionism]] of traditionalist and social conservatism and right-libertarianism,<ref name="Fusionism">{{cite journal |last1=Ashbee |first1=Edward |last2=Waddan |first2=Alex |title=US Republicans and the New Fusionism |journal=[[The Political Quarterly]] |date=December 13, 2023 |volume=95 |pages=148–156 |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.13341 |s2cid=266282896 |issn=1467-923X |language=en-us}}</ref> along with the rise of the [[New Right#United States|First New Right]] to be followed in 1964 with a more populist [[New Right#Second New Right|Second New Right]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gottfried|first1=Paul|last2=Fleming|first2=Thomas|author-link1=Paul Gottfried|author-link2=Thomas Fleming (political writer) |year=1988 |title=The Conservative Movement |location=Boston|publisher=Twayne Publishers|pages=77–95|isbn=0805797238}}</ref>

The rise of the [[Reagan coalition]] via the "Reagan Revolution" in the 1980s began what has been called the [[Reagan era]]. Reagan's rise displaced the liberal-moderate faction of the GOP and established Reagan-style conservatism as the prevailing ideological faction of the Party for the next thirty years, until the rise of the [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] faction.<ref name="Smith-2021"/><ref name="Ward 08-26-22">{{Cite news |last=Ward |first=Ian |date=August 26, 2022|title=Trump Didn't Kill Reaganism. These Guys Did. |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/26/reagan-conservatism-nicole-hemmer-q-and-a-00053858 |access-date=February 8, 2024 |work=Politico |language=en-US}}</ref> Reagan conservatives generally supported policies that favored [[limited government]], [[individualism]], [[tradition]]alism, [[Republicanism in the United States|republicanism]], and limited [[Federal government of the United States|federal governmental]] power [[States' rights|in relation]] to [[U.S. state|the states]].<ref name="political-ideology-today">{{cite book |last=Adams |first=Ian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apstK1qIvvMC&pg=PA32 |title=Political Ideology Today |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0719060205 |edition=reprinted, revised |location=Manchester |pages=32–33 |quote=Ideologically, all US parties are liberal and always have been. Essentially they espouse classical liberalism, that is a form of democratised Whig constitutionalism plus the free market. The point of difference comes with the influence of social liberalism" and the proper role of government... ...the American right has nothing to do with maintaining the traditional social order, as in Europe. What it believes in is... individualism... The American right has tended towards... classical liberalism... |access-date=February 2, 2023 |archive-date=January 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230120193242/https://books.google.com/books?id=apstK1qIvvMC&pg=PA32 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 21st century ===
{{conservatism US}}
{{see also|Neoconservatism|Tea Party movement|Right-wing populism|Trumpism}}
Republicans began the 21st century with the election of [[George W. Bush]] in the [[2000 United States presidential election]] and saw the peak of a [[neoconservative]] faction that held significant influence over the initial American response to the [[September 11 attacks]] through the [[War on Terror]].<ref name = "Rathburn 2008">{{cite journal |last1=Rathburn |first1=Brian C. |title=Does One Right Make a Realist? Conservatism, Neoconservatism, and Isolationism in the Foreign Policy Ideology of American Elites |journal=[[Political Science Quarterly]] |volume=123 |issue=2 |date=Summer 2008 |pages=271–299 |doi=10.1002/j.1538-165X.2008.tb00625.x |issn=1538-165X |language=en-us}}</ref> The election of [[Barack Obama]] saw the formation of the [[Tea Party movement]] in 2009 that coincided with a global rise in [[right-wing populism|right-wing populist]] movements from the 2010s to 2020's.<ref name = "Isaac2017">{{cite journal |last1=Isaac |first1=Jeffrey |title=Making America Great Again? |journal=Perspectives on Politics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=15 |issue=3 |date=November 2017 |pages=625–631 |doi=10.1017/S1537592717000871 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Right-wing populism became an increasingly dominant ideological faction within the GOP throughout the 2010s and helped lead to the election of [[Donald Trump]] in 2016.<ref name="campani">{{Cite journal |last1=Campani |first1=Giovanna |last2=Fabelo Concepción |first2=Sunamis |last3=Rodriguez Soler |first3=Angel |last4=Sánchez Savín |first4=Claudia |date=December 2022 |title=The Rise of Donald Trump Right-Wing Populism in the United States: Middle American Radicalism and Anti-Immigration Discourse |journal=Societies |language=en |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=154 |doi=10.3390/soc12060154 |issn=2075-4698 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Starting in the 1970s and accelerating in the 2000s, American right-wing interest groups invested heavily in external mobilization vehicles that led to the organizational weakening of the GOP establishment. The outsize role of conservative media, in particular [[Fox News]], led to it being followed and trusted more by the Republican base over traditional party elites. The depletion of organizational capacity partly led to Trump's victory in the Republican primaries against the wishes of a very weak party establishment and traditional power brokers.<ref name="Gidron-2019"/>{{Rp|27–28}} Trump's election exacerbated internal schisms within the GOP,<ref name="Gidron-2019">{{Cite journal |last1=Gidron |first1=Noam |last2=Ziblatt |first2=Daniel |date=2019 |title=Center-Right Political Parties in Advanced Democracies |journal=Annual Review of Political Science | publisher=[[Annual Reviews (publisher)|Annual Reviews]] |language=en |volume=12 |pages=17–35 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-090717-092750 |issn=1094-2939 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{Rp|18}} and saw the GOP move from a center coalition of moderates and conservatives to a solidly right-wing party hostile to liberal views and any deviations from the party line.<ref>{{Citation |last=McKay |first=David |title=Facilitating Donald Trump: Populism, the Republican Party and Media Manipulation |date=2020 |work=Authoritarian Populism and Liberal Democracy |pages=107–121 |editor-last=Crewe |editor-first=Ivor |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7 |access-date=2024-06-13 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-17997-7_7 |isbn=978-3-030-17997-7 |quote="the Republicans changed from being a right of centre coalition of moderates and conservatives to an unambiguously right-wing party that was hostile not only to liberal views but also to any perspective that clashed with the core views of an ideologically cohesive conservative cadre of party faithfuls" |editor2-last=Sanders |editor2-first=David}}</ref>

The Party has since faced intense factionalism.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Broadwater |first=Luke |date=2023-10-23 |title='5 Families' and Factions Within Factions: Why the House G.O.P. Can't Unite |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/us/politics/house-republicans-divisions-speaker.html |access-date=2023-10-27 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027050850/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/us/politics/house-republicans-divisions-speaker.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/types-democrats-republicans-house-2024/|title=The 8 Types Of Democrats And Republicans In The House|website=FiveThirtyEight|date=May 4, 2024|access-date=May 4, 2024|archive-date=May 3, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240503180719/https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/types-democrats-republicans-house-2024/|url-status=live}}</ref> These factions are particularly apparent in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]], where three Republican House leaders have been ousted since 2009.<ref name="McCarthy 2009">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/05/mccarthy-trump-speaker-removed-tea-party/|title=McCarthy thought he could harness forces of disruption. Instead they devoured him.|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 5, 2023|first1=Paul|last1=Kane|quote=As far back as 2009, the future House speaker tried to channel the anti-politician, tea party wave building into a political force, but the movement crushed him.}}</ref> House Majority Leader [[Eric Cantor]] was defeated in a primary election in [[2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia#District 7|2014]] by [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]] supporter [[Dave Brat]] for supporting [[Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013|immigration reform]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Jonathan |date=2014-06-10 |title=Eric Cantor Defeated by David Brat, Tea Party Challenger, in G.O.P. Primary Upset |website=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/us/politics/eric-cantor-loses-gop-primary.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 4, 2024 |archive-date=June 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611015851/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/11/us/politics/eric-cantor-loses-gop-primary.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[John Boehner]], Speaker of the House from 2011 to 2015, resigned in [[October 2015 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election|2015]] after facing a [[Motion to vacate the chair|motion to vacate]].<ref name=newyorker>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/14/a-house-divided|title=A House Divided: How a radical group of Republicans pushed Congress to the right|first=Ryan|last=Lizza|magazine=The New Yorker|date=December 14, 2015|access-date=January 8, 2016|archive-date=February 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210207063302/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/14/a-house-divided|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="resign1">{{cite news |title=John Boehner Will Resign From Congress |first=Jennifer |last=Steinhauer |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/boehner-will-resign-from-congress.html |date=September 25, 2015 |access-date=October 8, 2015 |archive-date=March 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327185152/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/john-boehner-to-resign-from-congress.html |url-status=live }}</ref> On January 7, 2023, after 15 rounds of voting, [[Kevin McCarthy]] was elected to the speakership. It was the first multiple ballot speaker election since [[1923 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives election|1923]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-07 |title=McCarthy elected House speaker in rowdy post-midnight vote |url=https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15 |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=January 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230107135727/https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-house-of-representatives-kevin-mccarthy-us-republican-party-0938c7358f41c83759246f8949ac7c15 |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequently, he was [[Ouster of Kevin McCarthy|ousted]] from his position on October 3, 2023, by a vote led by 8 members of the Trumpist faction along with 208 House Democrats.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-03 |title=Speaker McCarthy ousted in historic House vote, as scramble begins for a Republican leader |url=https://apnews.com/article/mccarthy-gaetz-speaker-motion-to-vacate-congress-327e294a39f8de079ef5e4abfb1fa555 |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=October 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003173947/https://apnews.com/article/mccarthy-gaetz-speaker-motion-to-vacate-congress-327e294a39f8de079ef5e4abfb1fa555 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Conservatives ====
{{Main|Conservatism in the United States}}
{{see also|Cultural conservatism|Fiscal conservatism|Movement conservatism|Neoconservatism|Social conservatism}}
[[File:Conservative Gallup 8-10.svg|thumb|Percent of self-identified [[Conservatism in the United States|conservatives]] by state as of 2018, according to a [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] poll:<ref name="Jones 2019">{{Cite web|last=Jones|first=Jeffrey M.|date=2019-02-22|title=Conservatives Greatly Outnumber Liberals in 19 U.S. States|url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/247016/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-states.aspx|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-27|website=Gallup|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222171445/https://news.gallup.com/poll/247016/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-states.aspx |archive-date=February 22, 2019 }}</ref>
{{legend|#b70000;|45% and above}}
{{legend|#e02727;|40–44%}}
{{legend|#ed6262;|35–39%}}
{{legend|#ed9191;|30–34%}}
{{legend|#ffb8b8;|25–29%}}
{{legend|#ffe3e3;|24% and under}}
]]
Ronald Reagan's presidential election in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] established Reagan-style [[Conservatism in the United States|American conservatism]] as the dominant ideological faction of the Republican Party until the election of Donald Trump in 2016.<ref name="Arhin-2023"/><ref name="Smith-2021"/><ref name="Biebricher-2023"/><ref name="Ward 08-26-22"/><ref name="Punchbowl Old GOP"/><ref name = "Kight Feb142024"/><ref name="wsj.com"/><ref name="Gerstle2022" /> Trump's 2016 election split both the GOP and larger conservative movement into [[Factions in the Republican Party (United States)#Trumpists|Trumpist]] and [[Never Trump movement|anti-Trump]] factions.<ref name ="Johnson-McCray-Ragusa 2018">{{Cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Lauren R.|last2=McCray|first2=Deon|last3=Ragusa|first3=Jordan M.|date=January 11, 2018|title=#NeverTrump: Why Republican members of Congress refused to support their party's nominee in the 2016 presidential election|journal=Research & Politics|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|doi=10.1177/2053168017749383|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Swartz2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Swartz |first1=David L. |date=27 May 2022 |title=Trump divide among American conservative professors |journal=[[Theory & Society]] |language=en |volume=52 |issue=5 |pages=739–769 |doi=10.1007/s11186-023-09517-4 |issn=1573-7853 |doi-access=free |pmid=37362148 |pmc=10224651 }}</ref> Demographically, the party has lost majority support from white voters with college degrees, while continuing to gain among voters without college degrees.<ref name="Lost Their"/><ref name="Polarization by education"/><ref name="cambridge.org"/>

The party's [[The Establishment#United States|establishment]] conservative faction has since lost its influence.<ref name="Biebricher-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Biebricher |first1=Thomas |date=October 25, 2023 |title=The Crisis of American Conservatism in Historical–Comparative Perspective |journal=Politische Vierteljahresschrift |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=233–259 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11615-023-00501-2 |issn=2075-4698 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Arhin-2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Arhin |first1=Kofi |last2=Stockemer |first2=Daniel |last3=Normandin |first3=Marie-Soleil |date=May 29, 2023 |title=THE REPUBLICAN TRUMP VOTER: A Populist Radical Right Voter Like Any Other? |journal=[[World Affairs]] |language=en |volume=186 |issue=3 |doi=10.1177/00438200231176818 |issn=1940-1582 |doi-access=free |quote= 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).}}</ref><ref name="Punchbowl Old GOP">{{Cite news |last1=Desiderio |first1=Andrew |last2=Sherman |first2=Jake |last3=Bresnahan |first3=John |date=February 7, 2024 |title=The end of the Old GOP |language=en-US |work=[[Punchbowl News]] |url=https://punchbowl.news/article/the-end-of-the-old-republican-party-senate-conference/ |access-date=February 8, 2024 |archive-date=February 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207114758/https://punchbowl.news/article/the-end-of-the-old-republican-party-senate-conference/ |url-status=live }}</ref>  Many conservatives critical of the Trumpist faction have also lost influence within the party.<ref name="Not Coming to Milwaukee">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/us/politics/rnc-bush-quayle-pence-cheney-romney.html|title=Guess Who's Not Coming to Milwaukee? Bush, Quayle, Pence, Cheney or Romney|date=July 16, 2024|website=The New York Times|first1=Adam|last1=Nagourney|access-date=September 17, 2024|archive-date=September 16, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916130252/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/us/politics/rnc-bush-quayle-pence-cheney-romney.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost.com"/> Former Representative [[Liz Cheney]] was removed from her position as Republican conference chair in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] as retaliation for her criticism of Trump in 2021,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/republicans-vote-to-oust-rep-liz-cheney-from-leadership-2021-5|title=Republicans oust Rep. Liz Cheney from leadership over her opposition to Trump and GOP election lies|website=Business Insider|date=May 12, 2021}}</ref> and was defeated by a pro-Trump primary challenger in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Enten |first=Harry |date=August 24, 2022 |title=Analysis: Cheney's loss may be the second worst for a House incumbent in 60 years |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/17/politics/liz-cheney-worst-defeat-house-incumbent/index.html |access-date=August 24, 2022 |website=[[CNN]]}}</ref> [[Mitt Romney]], the Republican presidential nominee in [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]], chose not to run for re-election in the [[2024 United States Senate election in Utah|2024 U.S. Senate election in Utah]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Riley Roche |first=Lisa |date=May 16, 2024 |title=Sen. Mitt Romney says his views are tiny 'chicken wing' of GOP |url=https://www.deseret.com/utah/2024/05/16/mitt-romney-msnbc-biden-trump-president-vote-pardon/ |access-date=May 16, 2024 |work=Deseret News |pages=1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/jason-chaffetz-mitt-romney-utah-senate-primary-challenge|title=Jason Chaffetz says he's open to challenging Mitt Romney in Utah Senate primary|website = Washington Examiner|date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> Trump's first vice president [[Mike Pence]] has since distanced himself from Trump, and chose not to endorse Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Likewise, Trump decided not to have Pence as his Vice President again, instead choosing JD Vance.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Mike Pence Tears into Donald Trump at 2024 Campaign Launch |language=en-GB |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65839793 |access-date=June 13, 2023 |quote=[Pence] added that Mr. Trump's actions on 6 January should disqualify him from returning to power. 'I believe that anyone who puts themselves over the constitution should never be president of the United States,' he said. 'And anyone who asked someone else to put them over the constitution should never be president of the United States again.'}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Pence says he won't endorse Trump in 2024 race |language=en-US |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4535253-pence-says-he-wont-endorse-trump-in-2024-race/ |access-date=March 15, 2024 | quote='In each of these cases Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,' Pence said. 'And that's why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.'}}</ref>

The party still maintains long-time ideologically conservative positions on many issues.<ref name="Aratani-2021">{{cite news |last1=Aratani |first1=Lauren |title=Republicans unveil two minimum wage bills in response to Democrats' push |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/republicans-minimum-wage-bills-senate |access-date=8 February 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814230535/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/republicans-minimum-wage-bills-senate |archive-date=14 August 2021 |quote=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.}}</ref> Traditional modern conservatives combine support for free-market economic policies with [[social conservatism]] and a hawkish approach to foreign policy.<ref name="Devine-2014" /> Other parts of the conservative movement are composed of [[fiscal conservatism|fiscal conservatives]] and [[deficit hawk]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Coates|first=David|year=2012|title=The Oxford Companion to American Politics|volume=2|page=393|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-976431-0}}</ref>

In foreign policy, [[Neoconservatism|neoconservatives]] are a small faction of the GOP that support an [[Interventionism (politics)|interventionist foreign policy]] and increased military spending. They previously held significant influence in the early 2000s in planning the initial response to the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]] through the [[War on Terror]].<ref name="Rathburn 2008" /> Since the election of Trump in 2016, neoconservatism has declined and [[non-interventionism]] and [[isolationism]] has grown among elected federal Republican officeholders.<ref name="New Fusionism" /><ref name="Rucker 2016">{{cite news |last1=Rucker |first1=Philip |author1-link=Philip Rucker |last2=Costa |first2=Robert |author2-link=Robert Costa (journalist) |date=March 21, 2016 |title=Trump questions need for NATO, outlines noninterventionist foreign policy |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-reveals-foreign-policy-team-in-meeting-with-the-washington-post/ |access-date=February 23, 2024 |archive-date=May 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514130954/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/03/21/donald-trump-reveals-foreign-policy-team-in-meeting-with-the-washington-post/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Dodson-Brooks 2021">{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Kyle |last2=Brooks |first2=Clem |title=All by Himself? Trump, Isolationism, and the American Electorate |journal=The Sociological Quarterly |date=20 September 2021 |volume=63 |issue=4 |pages=780–803 |doi=10.1080/00380253.2021.1966348 |s2cid=240577549 |issn=0038-0253|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Long-term shifts in conservative thinking following the elections of Trump have been described as a "new fusionism" of traditional conservative ideology and right-wing populist themes.<ref name="New Fusionism"/> These have resulted in shifts towards greater support for [[national conservatism]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The growing peril of national conservatism |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/15/the-growing-peril-of-national-conservatism |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=February 15, 2024 |access-date=February 15, 2024 |archive-date=February 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215195332/https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/02/15/the-growing-peril-of-national-conservatism |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[protectionism]],<ref>{{cite news |title=The Republican Party no longer believes America is the essential nation |url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/10/26/the-republican-party-no-longer-believes-america-is-the-essential-nation |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=October 26, 2023 |access-date=February 14, 2024 |archive-date=February 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240213131705/https://www.economist.com/united-states/2023/10/26/the-republican-party-no-longer-believes-america-is-the-essential-nation |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[cultural conservatism]], a more [[Realism (international relations)|realist]] foreign policy, a repudiation of [[neoconservatism]], reduced efforts to roll back entitlement programs, and a disdain for traditional checks and balances.<ref name="New Fusionism">{{Cite journal |last1=Ashbee |first1=Edward |last2=Waddan|first2=Alex|date=13 December 2023 |title=US Republicans and the New Fusionism |journal=[[The Political Quarterly]] |volume=95 |pages=148–156 |language=en |doi=10.1111/1467-923X.13341 |s2cid=266282896 |issn=1467-923X }}</ref><ref name=dissolved>{{cite news |last1=Mullins |first1=Luke |title=FreedomWorks Is Closing — And Blaming Trump |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/08/freedomworks-is-closing-and-blaming-trump-00156784 |access-date=8 May 2024 |work=Politico |date=May 8, 2024}}</ref> There are significant divisions within the party on the issues of [[abortion]] and [[same-sex marriage]].<ref name="Cohn2023">{{Cite news |last=Cohn |first=Nate |date=August 17, 2023 |title=The 6 Kinds of Republican Voters |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/17/upshot/six-kinds-of-republican-voters.html |access-date=October 9, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012095530/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/17/upshot/six-kinds-of-republican-voters.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Doherty-2023" />

Conservative caucuses include the [[Republican Study Committee]] and [[Freedom Caucus]].<ref>{{cite web|title=About|date=December 19, 2013 |url=https://rsc-hern.house.gov/about|publisher=Republican Study Committee|access-date=February 14, 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111231548/https://rsc-hern.house.gov/about|archive-date=January 11, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Desilver|first=Drew|date=January 23, 2023|title=Freedom Caucus likely to play a bigger role in new GOP-led House. So who are they?|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/23/freedom-caucus-likely-to-play-a-bigger-role-in-new-gop-led-house-so-who-are-they/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108045953/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/01/23/freedom-caucus-likely-to-play-a-bigger-role-in-new-gop-led-house-so-who-are-they/|archive-date=January 8, 2024|access-date=February 14, 2024|website=Pew Research Center|language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Right-wing populists ====
{{main|Right-wing populism|Trumpism}}
{{see also|Radical right (United States)|National conservatism|Freedom Caucus}}
<!-- Please wait until JD Vance's official portrait as Vice President is posted before changing the image of Vance here. -->
[[File:J. D. Vance (53808261332).jpg|thumb|[[JD Vance]], Donald Trump's Vice President during Trump's second term. [[JD Vance#Relationship with Donald Trump|Initially critical of Trump]], Vance became a staunch advocate of [[Trumpism]] later into Trump's first term, and has been described as a [[right-wing populist]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orr |first=James |author-link=James Orr (theologian) |date=2024-07-16 |title=JD Vance's nomination proves Trumpism is here to stay |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/16/vance-nomination-proves-trumpism-is-here-to-stay/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=July 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718054932/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/16/vance-nomination-proves-trumpism-is-here-to-stay/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[Right-wing populism]] is the dominant political faction of the GOP.{{efn|name="Dominant"|Attributed to multiple sources.<ref name="Global Politics"/><ref name="Smith-2021" /><ref name="Arhin-2023" /><ref name="Biebricher-2023" /><ref name="Ward 08-26-22" /><ref name="Punchbowl Old GOP" /><ref name="Kight Feb142024" /><ref name="Ball 2024"/><ref name="Aratani2021">{{cite news |last1=Aratani |first1=Lauren |title=Republicans unveil two minimum wage bills in response to Democrats' push |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/republicans-minimum-wage-bills-senate |access-date=7 September 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814230535/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/26/republicans-minimum-wage-bills-senate |archive-date=14 August 2021 |quote=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.}}</ref><ref name="Politico 2024-02-25">{{Cite news |last1=Wren |first1=Adam |last2=Montellaro |first2=Zach |last3=Kashinsky |first3=Lisa |last4=Shepard |first4=Steven |last5=Allison |first5=Natalie |last6=Piper |first6=Jessica |date=2024-02-25 |title=Hidden in Trump's big South Carolina win: A not-so-small problem for him in November|language=en-US |work=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/south-carolina-takeaways-trump-haley-00143177 |access-date=2024-02-25 |archive-date=February 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240225173845/https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/24/south-carolina-takeaways-trump-haley-00143177 |url-status=live |quote=From top to bottom, the Republican Party is Trump's party. There are no reliable pockets of dissent.}}</ref><ref name="x640">{{cite web | last1=Klein | first1=Rick | last2=Parks | first2=MaryAlice | title=Trumpism again dominates Republican Party | website=ABC News | date=2018-06-13 | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/note-trumpism-dominates-republican-party/story?id=55849587 | access-date=2024-06-12 | archive-date=June 12, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612135011/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/note-trumpism-dominates-republican-party/story?id=55849587 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="w819">{{cite web | title=Trump remains dominant force in GOP following acquittal | website=AP News | date=2021-02-14 | url=https://apnews.com/trump-remains-dominant-force-in-gop-following-acquittal-54a562159db21bd2c806c0c3c366be62 | access-date=2024-06-12 | archive-date=June 12, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612135007/https://apnews.com/trump-remains-dominant-force-in-gop-following-acquittal-54a562159db21bd2c806c0c3c366be62 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="c588">{{cite web | last=Martin | first=Jonathan | title=Trumpism Grips a Post-Policy G.O.P. as Traditional Conservatism Fades | website=The New York Times | date=2021-03-01 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/us/politics/trump-republicans-policy.html | access-date=2024-06-12}}</ref><ref name="s624">{{cite web | author=The Christian Science Monitor | title=Why Trumpism is here to stay | website=The Christian Science Monitor | date=2020-11-05 | url=https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/1105/Why-Trumpism-is-here-to-stay | access-date=2024-06-12 | archive-date=June 12, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612135009/https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2020/1105/Why-Trumpism-is-here-to-stay | url-status=live }}</ref>}} Sometimes referred to as the [[Make America Great Again|MAGA]] or "[[America First (policy)|America First]]" movement,<ref name="University of Washington 2021">{{cite web | title=Panel Study of the MAGA Movement | website=University of Washington | date=January 6, 2021 | url=https://sites.uw.edu/magastudy/ | access-date=March 24, 2024 | archive-date=March 24, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240324054136/https://sites.uw.edu/magastudy/ | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gabbatt Smith 2023">{{cite web | last1=Gabbatt | first1=Adam | last2=Smith | first2=David | title='America First 2.0': Vivek Ramaswamy pitches to be Republicans' next Trump | website=the Guardian | date=August 19, 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/19/vivek-ramaswamy-republican-presidential-nomination-candidate | access-date=March 24, 2024}}</ref> Republican populists have been described as consisting of a range of right-wing ideologies including but not limited to right-wing populism,<ref name="campani" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Norris |first=Pippa |date=November 2020 |title=Measuring populism worldwide |journal=Party Politics |language=en |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=697–717 |doi=10.1177/1354068820927686 |s2cid=216298689 |issn=1354-0688|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Cassidy">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-is-transforming-the-g-o-p-into-a-populist-nativist-party |title=Donald Trump is Transforming the G.O.P. Into a Populist, Nativist Party |last=Cassidy |first=John |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=February 29, 2016 |access-date=July 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304225035/http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/donald-trump-is-transforming-the-g-o-p-into-a-populist-nativist-party |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[national conservatism]],<ref name="Economist Feb152024">{{cite news |date=February 15, 2024 |title="National conservatives" are forging a global front against liberalism |url=https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/02/15/national-conservatives-are-forging-a-global-front-against-liberalism |url-status=live |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |location=[[London]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240220205122/https://www.economist.com/briefing/2024/02/15/national-conservatives-are-forging-a-global-front-against-liberalism |archive-date=February 20, 2024 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[neo-nationalism]],<ref name="Zhou_12/8/2022">{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Shaoqing |title=The origins, characteristics and trends of neo-nationalism in the 21st century |journal=International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology |volume=6 |issue=1 |date=December 8, 2022 |page=18 |doi=10.1186/s41257-022-00079-4 |doi-access=free |pmid=36532330 |quote=On a practical level, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union and Trump's election as the United States president are regarded as typical events of neo-nationalism.|pmc=9735003 }}</ref> and [[Trumpism]].<ref name="Ball 2024">{{cite news |last1=Ball |first1=Molly |title=The GOP Wants Pure, Uncut Trumpism |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/gop-new-hampshire-trump-haley-403080ca |access-date=February 22, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=January 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124014202/https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/gop-new-hampshire-trump-haley-403080ca |archive-date=January 24, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Katzenstein2019">{{cite news |last1=Katzenstein |first1=Peter J. |author-link=Peter J. Katzenstein |title=Trumpism is US |url=https://www.wzb.eu/en/news/trumpism-is-us |access-date=11 September 2021 |work=WZB {{!}} Berlin Social Science Center |date=20 March 2019 |archive-date=February 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215222927/https://www.wzb.eu/en/news/trumpism-is-us |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="DiSalvo2022">{{cite magazine |last1=DiSalvo |first1=Daniel |author-link=Daniel DiSalvo |date=Fall 2022 |title=Party Factions and American Politics |url=https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/party-factions-and-american-politics |journal=National Affairs |access-date=April 11, 2023 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323210441/https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/party-factions-and-american-politics |url-status=live }}</ref> They have been described as the American political variant of the [[Radical right (United States)|far-right]].{{efn|Attributed to the following sources.<ref name="Lowndes_978">{{cite book |last1=Lowndes |first1=Joseph |editor-last=de la Torre |editor-first=Carlos |title=Routledge Handbook of Global Populism |publisher=[[Routledge]] |chapter=Populism and race in the United States from George Wallace to Donald Trump |isbn=978-1315226446 |date=2019 |location=London & New York |at="Trumpism" section, pp. 197–200 |quote=Trump unabashedly employed the language of white supremacy and misogyny, rage and even violence at Trump rallies was like nothing seen in decades.}}</ref><ref name="Bennhold_11/20/2020">{{Cite news |last1=Bennhold |first1=Katrin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/world/europe/germany-trump-far-right.html |title=Trump Emerges as Inspiration for Germany's Far Right |date=September 7, 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120233123/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/07/world/europe/germany-trump-far-right.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Gardner Charles 2023 p. 31">{{cite book | last1=Gardner | first1=J.A. | last2=Charles | first2=G.U. | title=Election Law in the American Political System | publisher=Aspen Publishing | series=Aspen Casebook Series | year=2023 | isbn=978-1-5438-2683-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZViqEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT31 | access-date=2023-12-31 | page=31}}</ref><ref name="x640"/><ref name="w819"/><ref name="c588"/><ref name="s624"/>}} The election of Trump in 2016 split the party into pro-Trump and [[Never Trump movement|anti-Trump]] factions.<ref name ="Johnson-McCray-Ragusa 2018" /><ref name ="Swartz2022" />

The Republican Party's populist and [[Far-right politics#United States|far-right]] movements emerged in concurrence with a global increase in populist movements in the 2010s and 2020s,<ref name="Isaac2017"/><ref name="Maxwell 2019">{{cite news |last=Maxwell |first=Rahsaan |date=5 March 2019 |title=Analysis {{!}} Why are urban and rural areas so politically divided? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/05/why-are-urban-rural-areas-so-politically-divided/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030180433/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/05/why-are-urban-rural-areas-so-politically-divided/ |archive-date=30 October 2020 |access-date=6 May 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286|quote=In general, the core supporters of right-wing populist political parties across Europe are in more rural areas, where they feel left behind by the globalized economy and alienated from the multiculturalism of European capitals.}}</ref> coupled with entrenchment and increased partisanship within the party since 2010.<ref name="Lowndes 2021 q431">{{cite news | last=Lowndes | first=Joseph | title=Far-right extremism dominates the GOP. It didn't start — and won't end — with Trump | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2021-11-08 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/11/08/far-right-extremism-dominates-gop-it-didnt-start-wont-end-with-trump/ | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref> This included the rise of the [[Tea Party movement]], which has also been described as far-right.<ref name="Blum pp. 88–109">{{cite journal | last1=Blum | first1=Rachel M. |last2=Cowburn |first2=Mike | title=How Local Factions Pressure Parties: Activist Groups and Primary Contests in the Tea Party Era | journal=British Journal of Political Science | date=2024 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=54 | issue=1 | pages=88–109 | doi=10.1017/S0007123423000224 | url=https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/bjposi/v54y2024i1p88-109_5.html | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref> Trump's election in 2024 was part of a global backlash against incumbent parties,<ref name="graveyard">{{Cite news |last=Burn-Murdoch |first=John |date=2024-11-07 |title=Democrats join 2024’s graveyard of incumbents |url=https://www.ft.com/content/e8ac09ea-c300-4249-af7d-109003afb893 |access-date=2024-12-05 |work=Financial Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/383208/donald-trump-victory-kamala-harris-global-trend-incumbents|title=The global trend that pushed Donald Trump to victory|website=Vox|first1=Zack|last1=Beauchamp|date=November 6, 2024|quote=Incumbents everywhere are doing poorly. America just proved it's not exceptional.}}</ref> in part due to the [[2021-2023 inflation surge]].<ref name="Global Politics">{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/world/global-politics-conservative-right-shift-ea0e8d05|title=The Progressive Moment in Global Politics is Over|date=December 27, 2024|access-date=December 27, 2024|first1=Bertrand|last1=Benoit|first2=David|last2=Luhnow|first3=Vipal|last3=Monga|website=The Wall Street Journal|quote=Weak economic growth and record immigration are driving gains by the right, especially populists.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burn-Murdoch |first=John |date=2024-12-29 |title=What the ‘year of democracy’ taught us, in 6 charts
|url=https://www.ft.com/content/350ba985-bb07-4aa3-aa5e-38eda7c525dd |access-date=2024-12-30 |work=Financial Times|quote=The billions who voted in 2024 sent an angry message to incumbents, and warmed to populists on left and right}}</ref>

Businessman [[Elon Musk]], the wealthiest individual in the world and owner of the social media platform [[Twitter|X (formerly Twitter)]], is a notable proponent of right-wing populism.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Faiz |last2=Merrill |first2=Jeremy B. |date=August 12, 2024 |title=Elon Musk's X feed becomes megaphone for his far-right politics |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/11/musk-x-feed-politics-trump/ |access-date=August 12, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=August 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240814155420/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/11/musk-x-feed-politics-trump/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=July 17, 2024 |title=Elon Musk's 'Final Straw' Moment Marks Political Transformation |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/elon-musk-s-final-straw-moment-marks-political-transformation |access-date=July 31, 2024 |work=Bloomberg.com |language=en |archive-date=July 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717200027/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-17/elon-musk-s-final-straw-moment-marks-political-transformation |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dorn |first=Sara |title=Elon Musk's Political Shift: How The Billionaire Moved From Backing Obama To Endorsing DeSantis |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/11/27/elon-musks-political-shift-how-the-billionaire-moved-from-backing-obama-to-endorsing-desantis/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=Forbes |language=en |archive-date=August 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806051359/https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/11/27/elon-musks-political-shift-how-the-billionaire-moved-from-backing-obama-to-endorsing-desantis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Warzel |first=Charlie |date=December 11, 2022 |title=Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/ |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=The Atlantic |language=en |archive-date=December 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212052001/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Musk is a vocal and financial supporter of Donald Trump, and was the largest political donor of the 2024 presidential election.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 29, 2024 |title=How Elon Musk came to endorse Donald Trump |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/29/musk-trump-endorsement-immigration/ |access-date=November 9, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |archive-date=September 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240919110730/https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/07/29/musk-trump-endorsement-immigration/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=elon musk far right wing: Led by Elon Musk, Silicon Valley inches to the right - The Economic Times |url=https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/led-by-elon-musk-silicon-valley-inches-to-the-right/amp_articleshow/108361364.cms |access-date=July 31, 2024 |website=m.economictimes.com |archive-date=July 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240731003556/https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/led-by-elon-musk-silicon-valley-inches-to-the-right/amp_articleshow/108361364.cms |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to political scientists Matt Grossmann and David A. Hopkins, the Republican Party's gains among white voters without college degrees and corresponding losses among white voters with college degrees contributed to the rise of right-wing populism.<ref name="cambridge.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridge.org/us/universitypress/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/polarized-degrees-how-diploma-divide-and-culture-war-transformed-american-politics#contentsTabAnchor|title=Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics|first1=Matt|last1=Grossmann|first2=David A.|last2=Hopkins|website=Cambridge University Press|access-date=May 23, 2024|quote=Democrats have become the home of highly-educated citizens with progressive social views who prefer credentialed experts to make policy decisions, while Republicans have become the populist champions of white voters without college degrees who increasingly distrust teachers, scientists, journalists, universities, non-profit organizations, and even corporations.}}</ref> Until 2016, white voters with college degrees were a Republican-leaning group, but have since become a Democratic-leaning group.<ref name="Nate Silver"/><ref name="Harry Enten">{{cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/even-among-the-wealthy-education-predicts-trump-support/|title=Even Among The Wealthy, Education Predicts Trump Support|date=November 29, 2016|first1=Harry|last1=Enten|website=FiveThirtyEight|quote=First, it's clear from the exit polls that for white voters, every bit of extra education meant less support for Trump. ... Second, education matters a lot even when separating out income levels. ... Third, Trump saw little difference in his support between income levels within each education group.}}</ref> In the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]], [[Joe Biden]] became the first Democratic president to win a majority of white voters with college degrees (51–48%) since [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]], while Trump won white voters without college degrees 67–32%.<ref>{{Cite news|title=National Results 2020 President exit polls.|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results|access-date=2020-12-04|work=[[CNN]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Election Polls – Vote by Groups, 1960–1964 |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/9454/Election-Polls-Vote-Groups-19601964.aspx |website=[[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726155334/http://www.gallup.com/poll/9454/Election-Polls-Vote-Groups-19601964.aspx |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Polarization by education"/>

In the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]], Trump again won white voters without college degrees 66-32%, while losing white voters with college degrees 45-52%. Trump nearly won Hispanic voters 46-52%, while losing Asian voters 39-54% and African American voters 13-86%.<ref name="2024 Exit poll">{{cite news|date=November 6, 2024|title=Exit poll results 2024|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/national-results/general/president/0|access-date=November 6, 2024|publisher=CNN}}</ref><ref name="Lost Their">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/upshot/democrats-trump-working-class.html|title=How Democrats Lost Their Base and their Message|quote=Donald Trump's populist pitch bumped Democrats off their traditional place in American politics.|website=The New York Times|first1=Nate|last1=Cohn|date=November 25, 2024|access-date=November 25, 2024}}</ref> By education, Trump won voters with [[High school in the United States|High school or less]]	62-36%, some college education	51-47%, and an [[Associate degree]] 57-41%. Trump lost voters with a Bachelor's degree 45-53% and voters with	a [[Postgraduate education|graduate degree]] 38-59%.<ref name="2024 Exit poll"/> Trump increased his support from Hispanics, especially near the [[Mexico–United States border|Mexican–American border]] and in areas impacted by recent immigration.<ref name="went wrong">{{cite web |date=November 6, 2024 |title=What went wrong for Kamala Harris? |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-presidential-election-results-what-went-wrong-for-kamala-harris/articleshow/115041640.cms |access-date=November 7, 2024 |work=The Economic Times |issn=0013-0389}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/12/democrats-latino-vote-immigration/680945/|title=Why Democrats Got the Politics of Immigration So Wrong for So Long|first1=Rogé|last1=Karma|website=The Atlantic|date=December 10, 2024|access-date=December 30, 2024}}</ref> [[Nate Cohn]] of ''The New York Times'' stated that Trump had made larger gains with racial minority voters than with white voters without college degrees compared to the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 presidential election]] (the last pre-Trump election), with the Democratic Party's gains being mainly just among white voters with college degrees.<ref name="Lost Their"/>

According to historian [[Gary Gerstle]], Trumpism gained support in opposition to [[neoliberalism]], including opposition to [[free trade]], [[Opposition to immigration|immigration]], [[Globalization#Economic globalization|globalization]], and [[Liberal internationalism|internationalism]].<ref name="Gerstle2022"/><ref name="Maxwell 2019"/> Trump won the 2016 and 2024 presidential elections by winning states in the [[Rust Belt]] that had suffered from [[population decline]] and [[deindustrialization]], specifically [[Wisconsin]], [[Michigan]], and [[Pennsylvania]].<ref name="Revolt of the Rust Belt">{{cite journal|title=The revolt of the Rust Belt: place and politics in the age of anger|journal=The British Journal of Sociology|volume=68|issue=S1|pages=S120–S152|first=Michael|last=McQuarrie|date=November 8, 2017|doi=10.1111/1468-4446.12328|pmid=29114874|s2cid=26010609 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Fallen Behind">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/26/upshot/census-relative-income.html|title=They Used to Be Ahead in the American Economy. Now They've Fallen Behind.|date=October 26, 2024|first1=Emily|last1=Badger|first2=Robert|last2=Gebeloff|first3=Aatish|last3=Bhatia|website=The New York Times|access-date=October 26, 2024}}</ref> Compared to other Republicans, the populist faction is more likely to oppose [[immigration|legal immigration]],<ref name="Baker-2020">{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Paula |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=547UDwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of American Political History |last2=Critchlow |first2=Donald T. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-0190628697 |page=387 |quote="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." |via=Google Books |access-date=April 23, 2021 |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215023724/https://books.google.com/books?id=547UDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> free trade,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Kent |title=Populism and Trade: The Challenge to the Global Trading System |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0190086350 |chapter=Populism, Trade, and Trump's Path to Victory}}</ref> [[neoconservatism]],<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Smith |first1=Jordan Michael |last2=Logis |first2=Rich |last3=Logis |first3=Rich |last4=Shephard |first4=Alex |last5=Shephard |first5=Alex |last6=Kipnis |first6=Laura |last7=Kipnis |first7=Laura |last8=Haas |first8=Lidija |last9=Haas |first9=Lidija |date=October 17, 2022 |title=The Neocons Are Losing. Why Aren't We Happy? |magazine=The New Republic |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/168045/neoconservative-isolationism-republican-party |access-date=May 5, 2023 |issn=0028-6583 |archive-date=May 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505163722/https://newrepublic.com/article/168045/neoconservative-isolationism-republican-party |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Environmentalism|environmental protection laws]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Arias-Maldonado |first=Manuel |date=January 2020 |title=Sustainability in the Anthropocene: Between Extinction and Populism |journal=Sustainability |language=en |volume=12 |issue=6 |pages=2538 |doi=10.3390/su12062538 |issn=2071-1050 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

According to sociologist [[Arlie Russell Hochschild]], Trump successfully appealed to "the elite of the left-behind," meaning people "who were doing well within a region that was not." Although many of Trump's voters did not live in [[Affluence in the United States|affluent areas]], they were still richer than their neighbors in areas with a lower [[cost of living]].<ref name="Fallen Behind"/><ref>{{Cite web|date=September 4, 2024|access-date=December 9, 2024|first1=Zack|last1=Beauchamp|website=Vox|title=Trump's biggest fans aren't who you think|quote=But when you factored in local conditions — the fact that your dollar can buy more in Biloxi than Boston — the relationship reverses. "Locally rich" white people, those who had higher incomes than others in their zip codes, were much more likely to support Trump than those who were locally poor. These people might make less money than a wealthy person in a big city, but were doing relatively well when compared to their neighbors. Put those two results together, and you get a picture that aligns precisely with Hochschild’s observations. Trump’s strongest support comes from people who live in poorer parts of the country, like [[Kentucky's 5th congressional district|KY-5]], but are still able to live a relatively comfortable life there.|url=https://www.vox.com/politics/369797/trump-support-class-local-rich-arlie-hochschild}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|access-date=December 9, 2024|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0261379419300691|title=Nationally poor, locally rich: Income and local context in the 2016 presidential election|quote=When social scientists examine relationships between income and voting decisions, their measures implicitly compare people to others in the national economic distribution. Yet an absolute income level (e.g., $57,617 per year, the 2016 national median) does not have the same meaning in Clay County, Georgia, where the 2016 median income was $22,100, as it does in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, where the median income was $224,000. ... The results show that Trump's support was concentrated among nationally poor whites but also among locally affluent whites, complicating claims about the role of income in that election. This pattern suggests that social scientists would do well to conceive of income in relative terms: relative to one's neighbors.|first1=Thomas|last1=Ogorzalek|first2=Spencer|last2=Piston|first3=Luisa Godinez|last3=Puig|journal=Electoral Studies |date=October 2020 |volume=67 |doi=10.1016/j.electstud.2019.102068 }}</ref> Trump won the [[2024 United States presidential election|2024 presidential election]] by successfully convincing voters through his promises of fixing the economy and blocking the flow of immigrants at the border.<ref name="Peoples & Barrow 2024">{{cite web | last1=Peoples|first1= Steve|last2=Barrow|first2= Bill|date=November 6, 2024 |title=Election takeaways: Trump's decisive victory in a deeply divided nation |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-harris-presidential-election-takeaways-d0e4677f4cd53b4d2d8d18d674be5bf4 |access-date=November 11, 2024 |website=AP News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldmacher |first1=Shane |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |last3=Swan |first3=Jonathan |title=How Trump Won, and How Harris Lost |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/politics/trump-win-election-harris.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 7, 2024 |issn=1553-8095 |access-date=November 8, 2024}}</ref>

In international relations, populists support U.S. aid to Israel but not to Ukraine,<ref name="Falk 2023 t804">{{cite web | last=Falk | first=Thomas O | title=Why are US Republicans pushing for aid to Israel but not Ukraine? | website=Al Jazeera | date=2023-11-08 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/8/why-are-us-republicans-pushing-for-aid-to-israel-but-not-ukraine | access-date=2023-12-31 | archive-date=December 31, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231160206/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/8/why-are-us-republicans-pushing-for-aid-to-israel-but-not-ukraine | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Riccardi">{{Cite news |last=Riccardi |first=Nicholas |date=February 19, 2024 |title=Stalled US aid for Ukraine underscores GOP's shift away from confronting Russia |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4492514-gop-strained-by-trump-influenced-shift-from-reagan-on-russia/ |access-date=February 28, 2024 |agency=[[Associated Press]] |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228121816/https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4492514-gop-strained-by-trump-influenced-shift-from-reagan-on-russia/ |url-status=live }}</ref> are generally supportive of improving relations with [[Russia]],<ref name="Lillis">{{Cite news |last=Lillis |first=Mike |date=February 28, 2024 |title=GOP strained by Trump-influenced shift from Reagan on Russia |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4492514-gop-strained-by-trump-influenced-shift-from-reagan-on-russia/ |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |quote=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. |archive-date=February 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228121816/https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4492514-gop-strained-by-trump-influenced-shift-from-reagan-on-russia/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ball">{{Cite news |last=Ball |first=Molly |date=February 23, 2024 |title=How Trump Turned Conservatives Against Helping Ukraine |url=https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/how-trump-turned-conservatives-against-helping-ukraine-d9f75b3b |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref><ref name="Jonathan">{{Cite web |last=Jonathan |first=Chait |date=February 23, 2024 |title=Russian Dolls Trump has finally remade Republicans into Putin's playthings. |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-republicans-vladimir-putin-puppets.html |access-date=February 28, 2024 |work=[[New York (magazine)|Intelligencer]] |quote=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. |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229043453/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-republicans-vladimir-putin-puppets.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and favor an [[isolationism|isolationist]] "[[America First (policy)|America First]]" foreign policy agenda.<ref name="Lange"/><ref name="New York Times"/><ref name="Baker"/><ref name="Cohn2023"/>

The party's far-right faction includes members of the [[Freedom Caucus]].<ref name="Chatelain 2023 d086">{{cite web | last=Chatelain | first=Ryan | title=Freedom Caucus issues demands for raising debt limit | website=Spectrum News NY1 | date=2023-03-10 | url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2023/03/10/freedom-caucus-issues-demands-for-raising-debt-limit | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref name="NBC4 Washington 2023 e016">{{cite web | title=Far-right Republicans drafted a short-term funding bill with GOP centrists. It's now at risk of collapse. | website=NBC4 Washington | date=2023-09-19 | url=https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/politics/far-right-republicans-drafted-a-short-term-funding-bill-with-gop-centrists-its-now-at-risk-of-collapse/3426059/ | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref name="Hulse 2023 y458">{{cite web | last=Hulse | first=Carl | title=In Mike Johnson, Far-Right Republicans Find a Speaker They Can Embrace | website=The New York Times | date=2023-10-25 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/25/us/politics/mike-johnson-republican-house-speaker.html | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref name="Mascaro Freking Amiri 2023 a302">{{cite web | last1=Mascaro | first1=Lisa | last2=Freking | first2=Kevin | last3=Amiri | first3=Farnoush | title=Republicans pick Jim Jordan as nominee for House speaker, putting job within the Trump ally's reach | website=AP News | date=2023-10-13 | url=https://apnews.com/article/house-republicans-scalise-jordan-mccarthy-trump-ced017e71de967a7e327cba7e502926a | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref> Former representative [[Matt Gaetz]], who is affiliated with the populist faction, led [[Removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House|the 2023 rebellion against then-Speaker of the House]] [[Kevin McCarthy]].<ref name="Al Jazeera 2023 n655">{{cite web | title=Kevin McCarthy removed as US House speaker in unprecedented vote | website=Al Jazeera | date=2023-10-03 | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/3/us-house-speaker-mccarthy-removed-from-role-in-unprecedented-vote | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref name="Vargas 2023 x488">{{cite web | last=Vargas | first=Ramon Antonio | title=Matt Gaetz says ousting of Kevin McCarthy was worth risk of losing seat | website=The Guardian | date=2023-10-09 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/matt-gaetz-kevin-mccarthy-ouster-worth-risk-losing-seat | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|quote=Gaetz has also emerged as the embodiment of the populist wing of the G.O.P.|work=New Yorker|title=Matt Gaetz's Chaos Agenda|date=February 19, 2024|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/26/matt-gaetz-profile}}</ref> Former Democratic Representative [[Tulsi Gabbard]], who joined the Republican Party in 2024, has also been described as embracing populist policies.<ref>{{cite news|work=India Today|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/global/story/tulsi-gabbard-endorses-donald-trump-from-devout-democrat-to-maga-republican-2589175-2024-08-28|date=August 28, 2024|title=Tulsi Gabbard endorses Donald Trump: From devout democrat to MAGA republican}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Time|date=October 23, 2024|title=A Brief History of Tulsi Gabbard's Evolution—From Democratic 'Star' to MAGA Republican|url=https://time.com/7096376/tulsi-gabbard-democrat-republican-political-evolution-history-trump/}}</ref> They generally reject compromise within the party and with the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]],<ref name="Collinson 2023 n804">{{cite web | last=Collinson | first=Stephen | title=McCarthy became the latest victim of Trump's extreme GOP revolution | website=CNN | date=2023-10-04 | url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/04/politics/mccarthy-victim-trump-gop-revolution/index.html | access-date=2023-12-31 | archive-date=December 31, 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231160206/https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/04/politics/mccarthy-victim-trump-gop-revolution/index.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rocha 2023 k444">{{cite web | last=Rocha | first=Alander | title=Mike Rogers says of 'far-right wing' of GOP: 'You can't get rid of them' | website=AL | date=2023-09-07 | url=https://www.al.com/news/2023/09/mike-rogers-says-far-right-wing-of-gop-act-like-my-kids-you-cant-get-rid-of-them.html | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref> and are willing to oust fellow Republican office holders they deem to be too moderate.<ref name="Macpherson 2021 r371">{{cite web | last=Macpherson | first=James | title=Far right tugs at North Dakota Republican Party | website=AP News | date=2021-07-24 | url=https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-north-dakota-8fce64375abe042324cf26b4c82d57bf | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref><ref name="Times-Herald.com 2023 x358">{{cite web | title=Fringe activists threaten Georgia GOP's political future | website=The Times Herald | date=2023-05-15 | url=https://www.times-herald.com/opinion/fringe-activists-threaten-georgia-gop-s-political-future/article_b3fd5a4a-f33f-11ed-901d-7fbbbf28e09e.html | access-date=2023-12-31}}</ref> According to sociologist [[Joe Feagin]], political polarization by racially extremist Republicans as well as their increased attention from conservative media has perpetuated the near extinction of moderate Republicans and created legislative paralysis at numerous government levels in the last few decades.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Feagin |first=Joe R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPGyEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT5 |title=White Minority Nation: Past, Present and Future |date=2023-04-25 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-86223-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-17 |title=Where Does American Democracy Go From Here? - The New York Times |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/17/magazine/democracy.html |access-date=2024-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220317090219/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/03/17/magazine/democracy.html |archive-date=March 17, 2022 |last1=Homans |first1=Charles }}</ref>

[[Julia Azari]], an associate professor of political science at [[Marquette University]], noted that not all populist Republicans are public supporters of Donald Trump, and that some Republicans such as [[Governor of Virginia|Virginia Governor]] [[Glenn Youngkin]] endorse Trump policies while distancing themselves from Trump as a person.<ref name="j483">{{cite web |last=Azari |first=Julia |date=2022-03-15 |title=How Republicans Are Thinking About Trumpism Without Trump |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-republicans-are-thinking-about-trumpism-without-trump/ |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=FiveThirtyEight}}</ref><ref name="Youngkin">{{Cite news |title=The two sides of Youngkin: Virginia's new governor calls for unity but keeps stoking volatile issues |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/13/virginia-governor-youngkin-seeks-unity-stokes-division/ |access-date=2022-03-26 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=February 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226201944/https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/02/13/virginia-governor-youngkin-seeks-unity-stokes-division/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The continued dominance of Trump within the GOP has limited the success of this strategy.<ref name="i073">{{cite magazine |last=Shephard |first=Alex |date=2023-08-01 |title=The End of "Trumpism Without Trump" |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/174746/trump-desantis-polling-gop-primary |access-date=2024-09-04 |magazine=The New Republic|quote=The former president's primary rivals thought that they could pass themselves off as a better version of the real thing. They thought wrong.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/17/trump-indictment-election-2024-polling-00102522 |title=Trump cruises, DeSantis flatlines in polling even after bombshell indictment |date=June 17, 2023 |last=Shepard |first=Steven |work=[[Politico]] |access-date=June 17, 2023 |archive-date=June 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617115011/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/17/trump-indictment-election-2024-polling-00102522 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="c660">{{cite web |date=2024-08-09 |title=Why JD Vance Is Unpopular and Project 2025 Has Gone Underground |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-vance-project-2025-unpopular/ |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=The Nation}}</ref> In 2024, Trump led a takeover of the [[Republican National Committee]], installing [[Lara Trump]] as its new co-chair.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Guardian|title=RNC: Trump coup complete with loyalist as chair and daughter-in-law as co-chair|date=8 March 2024|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/08/trump-rnc-takeover}}</ref>

==== Christian right ====
{{Main|Christian right|Social conservatism in the United States}}
{{see also|Christian nationalism#United States|Bible Belt|United States anti-abortion movement|2020s anti-LGBT movement in the United States}}
[[File:Us rep mike johnson official photo.jpg|thumb|150px|House Speaker [[Mike Johnson]] (2023-present)]]

Since the rise of the [[Christian right]] in the 1970s, the Republican Party has drawn significant support from [[evangelicals]], [[Mormons]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 27, 2015|title=Five things you should know about Mormon politics|url=https://religionnews.com/2015/04/27/five-things-know-mormon-politics/|access-date=July 16, 2020|website=Religion News Service|language=en-US|archive-date=July 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716204657/https://religionnews.com/2015/04/27/five-things-know-mormon-politics/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Traditionalist Catholicism|traditionalist]] [[Catholic Church in the United States|Catholics]], partly due to [[opposition to abortion]] after ''[[Roe v. Wade]].''<ref name="Williams-2022">{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Daniel K. |date=May 9, 2022 |title=This Really Is a Different Pro-Life Movement |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |access-date=February 2, 2023 |website=[[The Atlantic]] |language=en |quote=This was not merely a geographic shift, trading one region for another, but a more fundamental transformation of the anti-abortion movement's political ideology. In 1973 many of the most vocal opponents of abortion were northern Democrats who believed in an expanded social-welfare state and who wanted to reduce abortion rates through prenatal insurance and federally funded day care. In 2022, most anti-abortion politicians are conservative Republicans who are skeptical of such measures. What happened was a seismic religious and political shift in opposition to abortion that has not occurred in any other Western country. |archive-date=May 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510043840/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/south-abortion-pro-life-protestants-catholics/629779/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Christian right faction is characterized by strong support of [[Social conservatism|socially conservative]] and [[Christian nationalism|Christian nationalist]] policies.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references.<ref>{{cite book |author-last1=McDaniel|author-first1=Eric L.|author-last2=Nooruddin|author-first2=Irfan|author-last3=Shortle|author-first3=Allyson|date=2022 |title=The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lodoEAAAQBAJ |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781316516263|doi=10.1017/9781009029445|quote=White Christian Nationalists are today the base of the Republican Party and those who attacked the U.S. Capitol are drawn from their ranks.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 7, 2024 |title=First of Its Kind Survey Maps Support for Christian Nationalism Across All 50 States |url=https://www.prri.org/press-release/first-of-its-kind-survey-maps-support-for-christian-nationalism-across-all-50-states/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |publisher=[[Public Religion Research Institute]] |language=en |archive-date=June 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616030445/https://www.prri.org/press-release/first-of-its-kind-survey-maps-support-for-christian-nationalism-across-all-50-states/ |url-status=live |quote=At the national level, Christian nationalism is strongly linked to Republican Party affiliation, white evangelical Protestant affiliation, and higher church attendance.}}</ref><ref name="Whitehead-2020">{{cite book |author-last1=Whitehead|author-first1=Andrew L.|author-last2=Perry|author-first2=Samuel L.|date=2020 |title=Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDLNDwAAQBAJ |location=New York, New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190057909 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=February 8, 2023 |title=A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture |url=https://www.prri.org/research/a-christian-nation-understanding-the-threat-of-christian-nationalism-to-american-democracy-and-culture/ |access-date=June 16, 2024 |publisher=[[Public Religion Research Institute]] |language=en |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615070952/https://www.prri.org/research/a-christian-nation-understanding-the-threat-of-christian-nationalism-to-american-democracy-and-culture/ |url-status=live |quote=Partisanship is closely linked to Christian nationalist views. Most Republicans qualify as either Christian nationalism sympathizers (33%) or adherents (21%), while at least three-quarters of both independents (46% skeptics and 29% rejecters) and Democrats (36% skeptics and 47% rejecters) lean toward rejecting Christian nationalism. Republicans (21%) are about four times as likely as Democrats (5%) or independents (6%) to be adherents of Christian nationalism.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=Joseph O. |last2=Perry |first2=Samuel L. |last3=Whitehead |first3=Andrew L. |date=August 6, 2020 |title=Crusading for Moral Authority: Christian Nationalism and Opposition to Science |journal=Sociological Forum |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=587–607 |doi=10.1111/socf.12619 |quote=Christian nationalism has become a powerful predictor of supporting conservative policies and political candidates. This is in large part due to the Republican Party platform becoming synonymous with "restoring" the sacred values, moral superiority, unity, pride, and prosperity of America's mythic past.|hdl=1805/26816 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitehead |first1=Andrew L. |last2=Perry |first2=Samuel L. |last3=Baker |first3=Joseph O. |date=25 January 2018 |title=Make America Christian Again: Christian Nationalism and Voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential Election |journal=Sociology of Religion |volume=79 |issue=2 |pages=147–171 |doi=10.1093/socrel/srx070 |quote=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...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lauter |first=David |date=February 17, 2024 |title=Will Republicans become a Christian nationalist party? Can they win if they do? |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2023-02-17/will-republicans-become-a-christian-nationalist-party-essential-politics |url-status=live |work=Los Angeles Times |location=Los Angeles, California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405092338/https://www.latimes.com/politics/newsletter/2023-02-17/will-republicans-become-a-christian-nationalist-party-essential-politics |archive-date=April 5, 2024 |access-date=June 16, 2024|issn=0458-3035 |quote=The strength of Christian nationalist sentiment can be clearly seen in a wide range of issues that Republican elected officials have stressed, including efforts to curtail the rights and visibility of transgender people, but also some less obvious topics, such as immigration.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitehead |first1=Andrew L. |last2=Perry |first2=Samuel L. |date=February 17, 2024 |title=Is Christian nationalism growing or declining? Both. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/25/republicans-christian-nationalism-midterms/ |url-status=live |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616182922/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/25/republicans-christian-nationalism-midterms/ |archive-date=June 16, 2024 |access-date=June 16, 2024|issn=0190-8286 |quote=According to political scientists Stella Rouse and Shibley Telhami, most Republicans support declaring the United States a Christian nation. And Christian nationalists are running for office at all levels of government, from local school boards to presumptive presidential candidates. Though the numbers of those who claim Christian nationalist beliefs may decline, Christian nationalism's influence in public life only continues to grow.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Perry |first=Samuel |date=August 5, 2022 |title=After Trump, Christian nationalist ideas are going mainstream – despite a history of violence  |url=https://theconversation.com/after-trump-christian-nationalist-ideas-are-going-mainstream-despite-a-history-of-violence-188055 |url-status=live |work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240601132553/https://theconversation.com/after-trump-christian-nationalist-ideas-are-going-mainstream-despite-a-history-of-violence-188055 |archive-date=June 1, 2024 |access-date=June 16, 2024 |issn=2201-5639 |quote=The presence of Christian nationalist ideas in recent political campaigns is concerning, given its ties to violence and white supremacy. Trump and his advisers helped to mainstream such rhetoric with events like his photo op with a Bible in Lafayette Square in Washington following the violent dispersal of protesters, and making a show of pastors laying hands on him. But that legacy continues beyond his administration.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Cummings |first=Mike |date=March 15, 2022 |title=Yale sociologist Phil Gorski on the threat of white Christian nationalism |url=https://news.yale.edu/2022/03/15/yale-sociologist-phil-gorski-threat-white-christian-nationalism |url-status=live |work=Yale News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612195953/https://news.yale.edu/2022/03/15/yale-sociologist-phil-gorski-threat-white-christian-nationalism |archive-date=June 12, 2024 |access-date=June 16, 2024 |quote=White Christian nationalism is a dangerous threat because it's incredibly well-organized and powerful. There's absolutely nothing like it on the left.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Peter |date=February 17, 2024 |title=Many believe the founders wanted a Christian America. Some want the government to declare one now |url=https://apnews.com/article/american-founders-christian-nation-conservative-beliefs-4ea388e8d80c54016a6a4460cbef9b82 |url-status=live |work=The Associated Press |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219033711/https://apnews.com/article/american-founders-christian-nation-conservative-beliefs-4ea388e8d80c54016a6a4460cbef9b82 |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |access-date=February 22, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Politico Christian">{{cite web |last1=Rouse |first1=Stella |last2=Telhami |first2=Shibley |title=Most Republicans Support Declaring the United States a Christian Nation |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/21/most-republicans-support-declaring-the-united-states-a-christian-nation-00057736 |website=Politico |access-date=February 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927001816/https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/21/most-republicans-support-declaring-the-united-states-a-christian-nation-00057736 |archive-date=September 27, 2022 |date=September 21, 2022 |url-status=live|quote=Christian nationalism, a belief that the United States was founded as a white, Christian nation and that there is no separation between church and state, is gaining steam on the right. Prominent Republican politicians have made the themes critical to their message to voters in the run up to the 2022 midterm elections.}}</ref>}} Christian conservatives seek to use the teachings of [[Christianity]] to influence law and public policy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Margaret L. |last2=Taylor|first2=Howard Francis |date=2006 |title=Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LP9bIrZ9xacC&pg=PA469 |location=Belmont, CA |publisher=Thomson Wadsworth |page= |isbn=978-0-534-61716-5}}</ref> Compared to other Republicans, the socially conservative [[Religious right in the United States|Christian right]] faction of the party is more likely to oppose [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT rights]], [[Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States|marijuana legalization]], and support [[Abortion law in the United States by state|significantly restricting the legality of abortion]].<ref>{{cite book |author-first=Robert B. |author-last=Smith |title=Mediations of Social Life in the 21st Century |chapter=Social Conservatism, Distractors, and Authoritarianism: Axiological versus instrumental rationality |editor-first=Harry F. |editor-last=Dahms |date=2014|publisher=Emerald Group Publishing|isbn=9781784412227|page=101|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5V1BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101|language=en}}</ref>

The Christian right is strongest in the [[Bible Belt]], which covers most of the [[Southern United States]].<ref>Brunn, Stanley D., Gerald R. Webster, and J. Clark Archer. "The Bible Belt in a changing south: Shrinking, relocating, and multiple buckles." ''Southeastern Geographer'' 51.4 (2011): 513–549. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26228980 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129031122/https://www.jstor.org/stable/26228980 |date=January 29, 2023 }}</ref> [[Mike Pence]], Donald Trump's vice president from 2017 to 2021, was a member of the Christian right.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/mike-pence-religion.html|title=Mike Pence's Journey: Catholic Democrat to Evangelical Republican|last1=Mahler|first1=Jonathan|date=July 20, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 22, 2017|last2=Johnson|first2=Dirk|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=November 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114134505/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/us/politics/mike-pence-religion.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 2023, a member of the Christian right faction, Louisiana representative [[Mike Johnson]], was elected the 56th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Karni |first1=Annie |last2=Graham |first2=Ruth |last3=Eder |first3=Steve |title=For Mike Johnson, Religion Is at the Forefront of Politics and Policy |work=The New York Times |date=October 28, 2023 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/us/politics/mike-johnson-speaker-religion.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-27 |title=Christian conservatives cheer one of their own as Mike Johnson assumes Congress' most powerful seat |url=https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-mike-johnson-christian-right-louisiana-9407f1e4b4c588f27f9510dd47c94fe8 |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=AP News |language=en |archive-date=February 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240224023531/https://apnews.com/article/house-speaker-mike-johnson-christian-right-louisiana-9407f1e4b4c588f27f9510dd47c94fe8 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Libertarians ====
{{main|Libertarian Republican|Right-libertarianism}}
{{See also|Libertarian conservatism|Libertarianism in the United States|Republican Liberty Caucus|Tea Party movement}}
The Republican Party has a prominent [[right-libertarian|libertarian]] faction.<ref name="Wilbur-2012"/><ref name="Cohn2023"/> This faction of the party tends to prevail in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] and [[Western United States]].<ref name="Cohn2023" /> Libertarianism emerged from [[fusionism]] in the 1950s and 60s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dionne Jr. |first=E.J. |title=Why Americans Hate Politics |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1991 |location=New York |page=161}}</ref> [[Barry Goldwater]] had a substantial impact on the conservative-libertarian movement of the 1960s.<ref>{{Citation |last=Poole |first=Robert |title=In memoriam: Barry Goldwater |date=August–September 1998 |newspaper=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |type=Obituary |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_n4_v30/ai_20954419 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628123204/http%3A//findarticles%2Ecom/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_n4_v30/ai_20954419/ |archive-date=June 28, 2009}}</ref> Compared to other Republicans, they are more likely to favor the [[Legalization of non-medical cannabis in the United States|legalization of marijuana]], [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT rights]] such as [[same-sex marriage]], [[gun rights]], oppose [[Surveillance|mass surveillance]], and support reforms to current laws surrounding [[Civil forfeiture in the United States|civil asset forfeiture]]. Right-wing libertarians are [[Libertarian perspectives on abortion|strongly divided on the subject of abortion]].<ref name="Libertarians for Life">{{cite web |first=Doris |last=Gordon |title=Abortion and Rights: Applying Libertarian Principles Correctly |url=http://www.l4l.org/library/abor-rts.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160526031557/http://l4l.org/library/abor-rts.html |archive-date=May 26, 2016 |access-date=March 8, 2023 |publisher=[[Libertarians for Life]]}} Also see: {{cite book |last1=McElroy |first1=Wendy |author-link1=Wendy McElroy |title=Liberty for Women |date=2002 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |isbn=978-1566634359 |location=Chicago |page=156 |oclc=260069067 |quote=Libertarians for Life declare that abortion is not a right but a 'wrong under justice.'}}</ref> Prominent libertarian conservatives within the Republican Party include [[Rand Paul]], a U.S. senator from [[Kentucky]],<ref name="courier-journal.com">{{Cite web |title=Who are Mike Lee and Rand Paul, the senators slamming the White House's Iran briefing? |url=https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/09/who-mike-lee-and-rand-paul-senators-slamming-white-houses-iran-briefing/4420109002/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215023724/https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2020/01/09/who-mike-lee-and-rand-paul-senators-slamming-white-houses-iran-briefing/4420109002/ |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |access-date=May 26, 2023 |website=The Courier-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="hannitycpac">{{cite news |date=March 18, 2013 |title=Sen. Rand Paul talks CPAC straw poll victory, looks ahead to 2016 |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2013/03/19/sen-rand-paul-talks-cpac-straw-poll-victory-looks-ahead-2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401150703/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/hannity/2013/03/19/sen-rand-paul-talks-cpac-straw-poll-victory-looks-ahead-2016 |archive-date=April 1, 2013 |publisher=Hannity with Sean Hannity (Fox News Network)}}</ref> [[Kentucky's 4th congressional district]] congressman [[Thomas Massie]],<ref name="tea party">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Joshua |date=December 22, 2012 |title=Scientist, Farmer Brings Tea Party Sensibility to House |url=https://www.rollcall.com/2012/12/22/scientist-farmer-brings-tea-party-sensibility-to-house/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901054304/https://www.rollcall.com/2012/12/22/scientist-farmer-brings-tea-party-sensibility-to-house/ |archive-date=September 1, 2020 |access-date=September 1, 2020 |work=[[Roll Call]]}}</ref> Utah senator [[Mike Lee]]<ref name="courier-journal.com" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Glueck |first=Katie |date=July 31, 2013 |title=Paul, Cruz and Lee in rare form |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/rand-paul-ted-cruz-mike-lee-095033 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526180557/https://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/rand-paul-ted-cruz-mike-lee-095033 |archive-date=May 26, 2023 |access-date=May 26, 2023 |website=[[Politico]] |language=en}}</ref> and Wyoming senator [[Cynthia Lummis]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 26, 2021 |title=Where the Republican Party stands after Trump, according to Wyoming's junior senator |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/26/cynthia-lummis-new-117th-congress-freshman-members-diversity-2021-484440 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308033908/https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/26/cynthia-lummis-new-117th-congress-freshman-members-diversity-2021-484440 |archive-date=March 8, 2023 |access-date=March 8, 2023 |website=[[Politico]] |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[2024 United States elections]], the Republican Party adopted pro-[[cryptocurrency]] policies, which were originally advocated by the libertarian wing of the party.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Marketplace|title=Republicans are embracing crypto|date=17 July 2024|url=https://www.marketplace.org/2024/07/17/republicans-crypto-bitcoin-donald-trump/}}</ref> As the Republican presidential nominee, [[Donald Trump]] addressed the [[2024 Libertarian National Convention]], pledging support for cryptocurrency, opposing [[central bank digital currency]] and expressing support for the commutation of [[Ross Ulbricht]].<ref>{{cite news|work=The Block|url=https://www.theblock.co/post/296779/donald-trump-pledges-to-free-ross-ulbricht-stop-cbdcs-and-support-self-custody-in-speech-to-libertarian-convention|date=26 May 2024|title=Donald Trump pledges to free Ross Ulbricht, stop CBDCs, and support self custody in speech to Libertarian Convention}}</ref> Trump's 2024 campaign featured greater influence from [[technolibertarian]] elements, particularly [[Elon Musk]], who was subsequently nominated to lead the [[Department of Government Efficiency]] (DOGE).<ref>{{cite news|work=Vox|url=https://www.vox.com/technology/383859/musk-trump-vance-silicon-valley|date=November 11, 2024|title=Trump's techno-libertarian dream team goes to Washington}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=Politico|title=Elon Musk's Twist On Tech Libertarianism Is Blowing Up On Twitter|date=November 23, 2024|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/11/23/elon-musks-new-school-tech-libertarianism-00070733}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=Euronews|title='Techno libertarians': Why Elon Musk is supporting Donald Trump in the US election|date=October 30, 2024|url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/10/30/techno-libertarians-why-elon-musk-is-supporting-donald-trump-in-the-us-election}}</ref> 2024 Republican presidential candidate [[Vivek Ramaswamy]], who was chosen to lead DOGE alongside Musk, has called for a synthesis between nationalism and libertarianism within the Republican Party, while opposing [[protectionist]] elements.<ref>{{cite news|work=Reason|url=https://reason.com/2024/07/12/vivek-ramaswamy-debuts-national-libertarianism-at-natcon-4/|title=Vivek Ramaswamy Debuts 'National Libertarianism' at NatCon 4|date=July 12, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=July 18, 2024|work=New Yorker|title=The Rise of the New Right at the Republican National Convention|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/the-rise-of-the-new-right-at-the-republican-national-convention}}</ref>

==== Moderates ====
{{Main|Centrism|Center-right politics}}
{{see also|Republican Governance Group|Moderate conservatism|Problem Solvers Caucus}}
Moderates in the Republican Party are an ideologically centrist group that predominantly come from the [[Northeastern United States]],<ref name="Kashinsky-2023">{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/19/moderate-republican-governor-trump-00107248|title=Sununu's exit spells the end of a whole breed of Republican governor|date=July 19, 2023|website=POLITICO|last=Kashinsky|first=Lisa|access-date=November 8, 2023|archive-date=November 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108131447/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/19/moderate-republican-governor-trump-00107248|url-status=live}}</ref> and are typically located in [[swing state]]s or [[Red states and blue states|blue states]]. Moderate Republican voters are typically [[Educational attainment in the United States|highly educated]],<ref name="Harry Enten"/> affluent, fiscally conservative, socially moderate or liberal and often [[Never Trump movement|Never Trump]].<ref name="Cohn2023" /><ref name="Kashinsky-2023"/> While they sometimes share the economic views of other Republicans (i.e. [[tax cuts|lower taxes]], [[deregulation]], and [[welfare reform]]), moderate Republicans differ in that some are for [[affirmative action in the United States|affirmative action]],<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Losing Its Preference: Affirmative Action Fades as Issue|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/affirm/stories/aa091896.htm|year=1996|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223165410/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/affirm/stories/aa091896.htm|archive-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref> [[LGBT rights in the United States|LGBT rights and same-sex marriage]], legal access to and even public funding for [[abortion debate|abortion]], [[Gun politics in the United States|gun control]] laws, more [[environmental regulation]] and action on [[climate change]], fewer restrictions on [[immigration]] and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/06/liberal.republicans/|title=Analysis: An autopsy of liberal Republicans|first=Alan|last=Silverleib|website=cnn.com|language=en|date=May 6, 2009|access-date=October 14, 2018|archive-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625021607/http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/06/liberal.republicans/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 21st century, some former Republican moderates have switched to the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tatum |first1=Sophie |title=3 Kansas legislators switch from Republican to Democrat |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/kansas-legislature-republican-democrat/index.html |website=CNN |date=December 20, 2018 |access-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030091356/https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/19/politics/kansas-legislature-republican-democrat/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Weiner |first1=Rachel |title=Charlie Crist defends party switch |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2012/12/10/charlie-crist-defends-party-switch/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=January 8, 2021 |archive-date=February 25, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225143218/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2012/12/10/charlie-crist-defends-party-switch/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Susan |title=Meltdown On Main Street: Inside The Breakdown Of The GOP's Moderate Wing |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing |access-date=June 17, 2022 |work=[[NPR]] |date=August 23, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=June 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617124126/https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing |url-status=live }}</ref>

Notable moderate Republicans include Senators [[Lisa Murkowski]] of Alaska and [[Susan Collins]] of Maine,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/10/collins-murkowski-key-votes-kavanaugh-confirmation/572407/|title=Two Moderate Senators, Two Very Different Paths|first=Elaina|last=Plott|date=October 6, 2018|website=The Atlantic|access-date=February 23, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/opinion/collins-murkowski-change-parties.html|title=Opinion – Senators Collins and Murkowski, It's Time to Leave the G.O.P.|first=Susan|last=Faludi|work=The New York Times|date=July 5, 2018|access-date=February 23, 2019|via=NYTimes.com|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112139/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/opinion/collins-murkowski-change-parties.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/408193-kavanaughs-fate-rests-with-sen-collins/|title=Kavanaugh's fate rests with Sen. Collins|first=Linda|last=Petre|date=September 25, 2018|website=TheHill|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112348/https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/408193-kavanaughs-fate-rests-with-sen-collins|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/sen-lisa-murkowski-face-reprisal-alaska-gop|title=Sen. Lisa Murkowski Could Face Reprisal from Alaska GOP|first1=Griffin|last1=Connolly|date=October 9, 2018|access-date=February 23, 2019|website=rollcall.com|archive-date=October 11, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011013657/https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/sen-lisa-murkowski-face-reprisal-alaska-gop|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nevada governor [[Joe Lombardo]], Vermont governor [[Phil Scott]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/republican-governors-new-england-defy-blue-wave/574726/|title=The Last Liberal Republicans Hang On|first=Parker|last=Richards|date=November 3, 2018|website=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109112034/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/11/republican-governors-new-england-defy-blue-wave/574726/|url-status=live}}</ref> New Hampshire governor [[Kelly Ayotte]], and former Maryland governor [[Larry Hogan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/29/larry-hogan-trump-maryland-00181572|title=Larry Hogan confirms he won't vote for Trump, despite the former president's endorsement|date=September 29, 2024|website=Politico|first1=Greta|last1=Reich|access-date=September 29, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/gov-larry-hogan-positions-himself-as-moderate-on-the-national-stage-at-second-inauguration/65-ccd71689-8f8a-4663-af27-07014cb3c929|title=Gov. Larry Hogan positions himself as moderate on the national stage at second inauguration|website=WUSA|date=January 16, 2019|access-date=February 23, 2019|archive-date=February 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221112322/https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/gov-larry-hogan-positions-himself-as-moderate-on-the-national-stage-at-second-inauguration/65-ccd71689-8f8a-4663-af27-07014cb3c929|url-status=live}}</ref>