Author and GOP strategist calls Trump 'seeds of destruction' of conservatism

Republicans have "locked their fortunes to Donald Trump," Wilson said.

ByLee Harris
August 22, 2018, 7:05 PM

As a prominent ‘never-Trumper’ who pens regular columns criticizing the current direction of the GOP, veteran political adviser Rick Wilson represents an increasingly disenchanted wing of the old Republican Party.

On Wednesday’s Powerhouse Politics podcast, Wilson discussed his new book, "Everything Trump Touches Dies," and his turn away from a GOP he believes is in tatters. Though he has long been loyal, Wilson said, “I reached a point where I couldn’t make a moral compromise with everything that my party claimed to believe in and the things that drew me to it in the first place.”

He went further, calling President Donald Trump the “seeds of destruction” for both the GOP and the conservative movement. And he fears that the worst is yet to come: Russia collusion is “the first inning of the first game of the World Series. We're not even anywhere close to where the pain level gets really high,” he said.

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Asked what the best strategy for the GOP would be going forward, Wilson wryly suggested that disillusioned Republicans stop acting like “a bunch of junior assistant managers at the gift shop of the Trump golf club.”

Every Wednesday, ABC Radio and iTunes brings you the Powerhouse Politics podcast, which includes headliner interviews and in-depth looks at the people and events shaping U.S. politics. Hosted by ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl and ABC News Political Director Rick Klein.

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