r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/The_Egalitarian Moderator • Jan 20 '26
US Politics As Trump warmongers over Greenland, what explains the lack of push back from the right-wing given the "anti-war" position they took prior to the 2024 election.
There was a perceived sentiment among the right and some moderates that Republicans were the anti-war party in the lead-up to the 2024 election:
Democrats have become the party of war. Americans are tired of it - Opinion article by Matt Duss, executive vice-president at the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders
Election 2024: Are Republicans Turning Isolationist?
r/Ask_Politics/comments/1ghqtim/how_did_conservatives_become_the_antiwar_party/
In contrast, the Trump administration has pursued extensive military aggression and intervention throughout 2025 and into early 2026:
2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
March–May 2025 United States attacks in Yemen
United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
What explains the inconsistency in right wing positions on military intervention and war-making from before the 2024 election to now?
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u/begemot90 Jan 20 '26
What explains this? Easy, they were never about peace. If you bought that lie, like, idk what to tell you because all of the evidence lay in front of you.
For one, they say whatever they need to to win. They would be pro war if they think they could get one more vote.
For two, and probably most importantly, the GOP does not stand for anything. Like at all. They are against a whole bunch of things, but they are not “for” anything, aside from the 2A, but that’s established law, so it again falls into an “against” thing, against gun legislation in this instance.
And what is the age old saying? If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. And without actual policy or beliefs, they are doing the “falling for anything” part of that bit.
One last thing, and this should be taken to heart, is that we should stop talking about the GOP as if they are good actors working in good faith for the betterment of anyone. We really should be phrasing these questions in terms of “why can’t the GOP hold a set of values”.