Top Bush, McCain strategist quits the Republican Party, calling Trump's 'internment camps for babies' the final straw

Steve Schmidt quits the Republican Party

(Image credit: AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

last updated 20 June 2018

Steve Schmidt was a top campaign strategist for former President George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), so it is hardly a huge surprise that he is no fan of President Trump. But in a scathing series of tweets early Wednesday, he denounced today's entire "corrupt, indecent, and immoral" Republican Party and the "feckless cowards" who lead it (save for a few GOP governors).

The final straw, Schmidt said, was Trump's policy of separating migrant children from their parents. GOP icon Ronald Reagan "would be ashamed of [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell and [House Speaker Paul] Ryan and all the rest while this corrupt government establishes internment camps for babies," he said. "Every one of these complicit leaders will carry this shame through history. [Their] legacies will be ones of well earned ignominy. They have disgraced their country and brought dishonor to the Party of Lincoln." The only solution to renew America "is the absolute and utter repudiation of Trump and his vile enablers in the 2018 election by electing Democratic majorities," not because of their "progressive agenda," but to save "DEMOCRACY and decency," Schmidt said. He concluded:

You can read Schmidt's entire goodbye letter on Twitter.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.