When did the party of 'family values' stop caring about having moral leaders? | Opinion
There is no reason to believe Trump or Musk have significantly changed how they conduct themselves in recent years. They are likely just as morally bankrupt as they always have been.
Elon Musk recently made headlines after a conservative influencer claimed she was the mother of his 13th child.
Whether the story is true remains to be seen, though Musk has not denied the allegations, which is all they are right now. However, it raises a significant problem within the GOP: the increasing lack of moral men in a political party that has for years claimed the moral high ground.
It used to be a bad thing if a Republican leader had a dozen children with multiple mothers outside of marriage. Now, adultery, extra-marital children and womanizing are all commonplace. The GOP desperately needs good men, good fathers and good husbands. We're getting further and further away from that.
Not only is it good for young men to have true conservative influences in the party, but young women might be more open to listening to conservative perspectives if the top of the party isn't full of cheaters and abusers. Young Republicans, like me, need better role models.
GOP leaders aren't good people, just good at deceiving you
It's no surprise that as the Republican Party has deviated from social conservatism, the leaders within it have become increasingly immoral. We see that with almost 10 years of President Donald Trump being the leader of the party.
Musk has at least 12 children with three women, with a fourth mother claiming another child emerging Feb. 14.
Most notoriously, Trump cheated on his wife, Melania, with a porn actress in 2006 while the future first lady was caring for their newborn son. Before the 2016 presidential election, candidate Trump paid $130,000 to cover that fact from his family and the public.
Even beyond this absurd story, Trump has a long history of allegations of abusing women, which entirely bankrupts his authority as a conservative leader.
Then there is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's been accused of rampant adultery. He was recently confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Republicans are no longer expected to be moral leaders or even live their lives in a conservative manner.
Conservatism is rooted in a philosophy of personal responsibility. How you conduct yourself as an individual matters. Living your life in line with conservative principles pays dividends far more often than cheating and lying your way through relationships and politics.
Unsurprisingly, all three of the people mentioned above are former Democrats. Those who genuinely believe in conservatism orient their lives in a way that embraces conservative values.
By no means am I saying Democrats are bad people, but in my view, conservative values make it easier to live morally.
Now, politicians have always been scandalous, but all of this is even richer coming from the Republican Party that has insisted it has a monopoly on family values for decades.
When voters hear the hypocrisy of the party of family values nominating a thrice-married adulterer for the third straight election cycle, their eyes roll into the back of their heads.
Conservatism begins with how you live your personal life
I understand that people make mistakes; I certainly have myself. There is room to grow as a person from your shortcomings. If we judge everyone by their worst moments, everyone would look pretty horrible. However, all of these instances go further than that; they display a decades-long pattern of action that is directly antithetical to conservatism.
There is no reason to believe that Trump, Musk or RFK Jr. have significantly changed how they conduct themselves in recent years. The far more likely answer is that they are just as morally bankrupt as they always have been.
People pretend that personal and political lives are separate. They're not. The two facets, political and personal, are interconnected. As the GOP has embraced men who have conducted themselves poorly in their personal lives, the party’s commitment to conservative political principles have crumbled.
While I think politicians are almost always poor choices for role models, the brash personalities of Trump and Musk will be emulated by young Republicans. The current GOP lends itself to the sort of frat-guy Republicans who have become emboldened in recent years, that is, conservatism without any of the traditional values that build good men.
Young men looking to the current GOP see men who can act however they want because they are successful. That sort of attitude is good for attracting prospective voters to the party, but it's not effective at building a moral constituency that will stand long into the future.
If the GOP believes that the best people to lead its movement are adulterers, womanizers and absent fathers, then Republican leaders should say that. But for now, actions speak louder than words. The next generation of young Republicans will look to the top of the party as their guide, and I wouldn't want these men leading the next generation.
Dace Potas is an opinion columnist for Paste BN and a graduate of DePaul University with a degree in political science.