“MAGA is ascendant,” crowed Representative Matt Gaetz on Oct. 25. He had reason to be happy. After weeks of chaos, House Republicans had settled on Mike Johnson as Speaker. Johnson is thoroughly in line with nationalist-populist Republicans who engineered Kevin McCarthy’s fall, and the episode was another sign that the GOP is no longer Ronald Reagan’s party. It is Donald Trump’s.
Since Reagan left office nearly 35 years ago, the GOP has defined itself negatively.
