33 people to blame for the rise of Donald Trump

(Image credit: REUTERS/Tami Chappell)

published 10 March 2016

Donald Trump is bulldozing his way to the Republican nomination. The leaders of the GOP establishment, meanwhile, are finally trying anything they can to stop his seemingly inevitable coronation — from attacking his foreign policy pronouncements, business acumen, and delicate hands, to spending millions on attacks ads, pleading with the electorate, making robocalls, and on and on. And yet, there Trump stands, the victor in 15 of 24 GOP presidential contests.

So what's a desperate party, perplexed media, and humbled punditry to do? Why, blame someone else, of course! But who, or what, is responsible for Donald Trump's rise? Here are 33 options.

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2. Elite Republicans

3. Congressional Republicans

4. Republicans and Democrats

5. Career Republicans and Democrats

6. Lazy Democrats

7. The progressive left

8. The conservative right

9. Christians

10. The Southern Strategy

11. The P.C. Police

12. Class politics

13. Political scientists

14. President Obama

15. Jeb Bush

16. The Bush dynasty

17. John Boehner

18. Newt Gingrich

19. Michael Bloomberg

20. Al Franken

21. Lorne Michaels

22. Jon Stewart

23. David Brooks

24. Fox News

25. The media

26. The internet

27. "Facebook envy"

28. The Buffalo Bills

29. Seattle

30. American culture

31. America

32. Americans

33. Everyone

Lauren Hansen produces The Weekâ€™s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.