Brooks: If Moore Wins in Alabama, ‘Then There Are Some Signs’ that ‘The Party Is Still Getting More Populist’

On Friday’s broadcast of “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks commented on the Alabama Senate race by saying that the tide of populism in the GOP isn’t subsiding, and if Roy Moore wins, there are signs that the Republican Party is getting more populist.

Brooks said Trump’s approval ratings have increased because he worked with Democrats, “But, in Alabama, the revolution devours its own. He ran as the anti-Washington candidate –, Trump, Donald Trump did, got to Washington, and has to play a little by some Washington rules, which is supporting guys in the Senate who are supporting you. So, he’s supporting Strange. Roy Moore is a Trumpian…before Trump, and a guy who made his name on the Ten Commandments, on some gay marriage issues. It’s Alabama. And so he’s saying, ‘I’m actually the Trumpian.’ And so the what — I think what we see for the Republican Party is that this populist tide is not ebbing. If Moore wins, then there are some signs — Alabama is unique, Moore is unique, but there are some signs the party is still getting more populist.”

Brooks stated the cause for this are that Senate Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “is still the enemy for a lot of Republicans. The Washington Republican establishment is still the enemy more than ever. And the things that fueled the populist rise, rise of the opioid crisis, the decimation of the economy, the white identity issues, all those things are still rising, not ebbing. And so, the populism that Trump tapped into may be getting more extreme.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett