Opinion: Donald Trump is making a mockery of our party

I am a Republican and I am angry as hell.

For almost three months, the headlines regarding my party’s presidential primary have been dominated by a brash, egotistical and offensive buffoon: one Donald J. Trump.

From day one of the Trump “campaign,” we have been exposed to a series of outrageous comments that appear to come from a modern-day, living embodiment of Dr. Strangelove’s Jack D. Ripper—the fictional U.S. General who started a nuclear war with the Soviet Union because of “the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.”

With each passing day of the Trump circus, the GOP is losing ground with the very people it needs to attract in order to win in 2016 and beyond: Latinos, women and sane Republican voters. He has single-handedly made it even harder to rebuild the Republican Party in New York City.

Latinos in the United States now total 55.4 million, roughly 17.4 percent of the total population. Of New York City residents, 27.5 percent are Latino, which translates into approximately 2.3 million people. What kind of message does it send to the Latino community if the Republican standard-bearer is a man who called Mexicans rapists? What resident of East Harlem or Jackson Heights would feel that my party is one in which they would feel welcome? We are losing out on the chance to highlight Republican issues and causes that better the Latino community. (Charter schools, for example, which overwhelmingly benefit Latino and African-American children.)

Last week’s GOP debate brought out the truly vile and ugly nature of Donald Trump. Debate moderator Megyn Kelly rightly asked Mr. Trump about his repugnant comments about women, who make up 53 percent of the U.S. population. His response? That he was only speaking about Rosie O’Donnell, but because he didn’t like the question, he would be more than happy to attack Ms. Kelly the same way.

Later in the debate, Trump implied that Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton was, at best, a pay-for-play politician—a term that could be construed as another sexist remark—when he said, “Hillary Clinton, I said be at my wedding, and she came to my wedding. She had no choice because I gave (money to her).”

Then, on the day after the debate, Trump took to Twitter and the airwaves to furiously attack Ms. Kelly for her fair questioning. He even stooped so low as to insinuate that a reason behind her questioning was that she was menstruating. This is clearly not going to help Republicans brand themselves as pro-women or give us credibly when discussing women's issues.

Let’s take a step back from the over-the-top and truly horrifying statements that have routinely emanated from the Trump campaign, and focus on the substance and qualifications of Trump as a candidate. He is a businessman with multiple bankruptcies to his name, who later became a reality TV show host. (In the interest of full disclosure, I did watch season one of The Apprentice and was mildly entertained by its stupidity.) In recent years, Mr. Trump became a carnival barker for not one, but two utterly insane conspiracy movements: the Birthers and the Anti-Vaccine folks. The activities of the latter have actually had severe repercussions in this country, as the rate of children being vaccinated has fallen and measles diagnoses have risen.

Trump’s campaign has offered no specific policy proposals or recommendations. Instead, he has delivered platitudes and vague statements that have zero factual support. He has promised to help the United States because “We don’t win anymore. We lose to China.” What Trump conveniently left out of that statement is the fact that he has done his part to help China win over America by manufacturing his Trump clothing there.

What about his incredibly thin skin? Certainly, it would be a liability when it comes to foreign diplomacy. Would Trump respond to Vladimir Putin’s aggression with a Twitter temper tantrum? I am sure that Putin, a former KGB operative, would cower in fear from one of Trump’s social media rants calling him a “bad guy.”

There are Republican candidates in this presidential race who are seeking to grow the party and make inroads with the very voters we need to take back the White House in 2016. Marco Rubio and Carly Fiorina have compelling life stories that give them broad appeal. Ohio Gov. John Kasich gave an eloquent answer to a question on what he would do if one of his daughters were gay: 

“I’ve been saying it all along, we need to give everybody a chance, treat everybody with respect, and let them share in this great American dream that we have, Megyn. So, look, I’m going to love my daughters, I’m going to love them no matter what they do. Because, you know what, God gives me unconditional love. I’m going to give it to my family and my friends and the people around me.” 

It was a tremendous moment that demonstrated Kasich’s ability to rise above the fray and unite. Of course, it was drowned out by Trump being Trump.

It’s time for my fellow Republicans to get angry and unite to proclaim that Donald Trump neither speaks for us, nor does he represent us. Running for president is a grueling job interview that requires candidates to show that they are serious people with serious qualifications and a vision for America. Offensive clowns destroying the chances of Republicans making inroads with Latinos, women and just about every other group needed to win, need not apply.

I am a Republican and I am angry. It’s time we jettison Donald Trump and grow our party.

Evan Siegfried, a Republican strategist, is president of Somm Consulting, a public affairs firm based in New York City. He can be followed on Twitter @evansiegfried.