Editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon Matthew Continetti appeared on MSNBC’s Meet The Press Daily to discuss Donald Trump’s effect on the Republican Party, the subject of his weekly column posted Friday.
Continetti said that while Trump may be a caricature of the GOP, he also represents trends in the Republican Party and the country as a whole.
"I think it's entirely possible to be both caricature and the vessel of some real trends in the Republican Party and in the country nationally," he said.
"If you were to sit liberals in a room and ask who is the person who most represents everything you fear and hate about conservatives, you would come up with Donald Trump," he said. "Old, white, billionaire, you know, nativist, protectionist ... That said, there's a global trend now toward nationalism on the center-right."
The national response to Trump, according to Continetti, could be one of broader dissatisfaction with the Obama administration.
"I think something changed last year with the immigrant children showing up at the border and the president's response to that," he said, referring to President Obama’s 2012 executive order on immigration titled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
"I think it [DACA] galvanized a sentiment that said immigration laws are not working in this country. The governing elites are corrupt or inept, and it’s time we need to go elsewhere, outside the political process for someone to save us," he said. "I think the people who believe that are supporting Donald Trump."
Continetti said that cultural shifts could also be fueling Trump’s rise and the shift on the right.
"Trump represents, I think, a decisive shift on the right, and it's because of not only the failure of our governing elites, but also widespread changes in the multi-ethnic character of this nation, how we deal with its demographic shifts, a feeling of loss of control," he said.
Even if Trump does not win the Republican nomination, he said, the Republican Party will still have to deal with Trump’s convention speech.
"If Trump goes third-party, what if he doesn't win the nomination? What are the Republicans going to do at their convention? I mean, we have this myth about what Pat Buchanan's speech about a culture war did in the ’92 election," Continetti said, referring to a 1992 speech by Republican candidate Pat Buchanan.
"What is a Donald Trump speech going to do to media perceptions and general electorate perceptions of the Republican Convention in 2016?" he said.