Charlie Sykes: GOP, Toxic Narcissists and a Fundamentally Broken Congress | Amanpour and Company

Conservatives love to say Trump caused this, but the faction dedicated to making governance and cooperation impossible goes back at least to Newt Gingrich.

Anyone who went along with the big lie is not a substantive person, period.

The GOP has dug itself into such a deep hole over the last 7-8 years and they just keep digging. My former party is unsavable at this point, and it will take at least a generation to overcome. Quite possibly two generations.

Dear America, Stop sending maniacs to Congress. Signed, America

The only way to get anything done to benefit the public and the nation going forward is to have a Blue Sweep of the Presidency, the Senate and the House.

Hmm. There’s a lesson to be learned here. Mike Gallagher tried to appease and compromise with the Freedom Caucus and got nowhere. The lesson: you can’t compromise with those who are zealots and you appease them at your peril.

The unwillingness of conservatives to cooperate as responsible members of a democracy is the apex of contempt for the nation. Coalition governments are commonplace in functional democracies, and they often produce superior results. The norm against working with Democrats renders America ungovernable, and puts it on the trajectory of a failed state.

I’m an Australian who admired and supported the principles of the GOP from my teenage years - in 2015, I was concerned with the arrival of DJT - in 2016, I was horrified he won the Primaries - from 2017 the GOP has changed into a full blown cult defined by nativism, racism, isolationism, protectionism and extreme bigoted views on minorities, marginalised and oppressed. It is one of the greatest capitulations of spirit and its DNA is now marked by hatred.

I'm a lifelong Dem, but I love Charlie Sykes and miss seeing him on The Bulwark. It's still a great collection of podcasts, Tim Miller is fantastic and I never miss an episode, but I do miss Charlie.

I say. Somebody who does 77 raving posts on an Easter Sunday has a tormented soul. I am happy I am not meeting my God as donald j trump.

Great to see Charlie Sykes. As a Brit and long time fan of the USA, the main problem with the disintegration of the GOP under Trump and this cowardly Congress is what it may well mean which is the slow decline of American influence in the world and that will be a problem with domestic consequences for the US. Ukraine and Europe are already starting to adjust to the reality of an 'unreliable' America, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and the Phillipines too are likely to be weighing their options whilst wishing for better from the US. Obviously I don't have a vote but when I lived and worked in the US I would be a natural Republican and despite not being fond of the Democrats, I would certainly vote Biden this time.

It is not just "staffers". The Republican Party allows the LOUDEST and the RUDEST to gain attention.

Thank you for inviting Charlie on your show. His views are important.💙🇺🇸

You will not get the chance to vote in America again. If you let the Rump back in.

When Charlie was on the bulwark, he interviewed a long term republican operative - who started by working on Reagan’s campaign. He said he used to go to all the primaries, and said he knew people in every republican state organization. He said in 2016, he saw a dramatic change in who would be at debates, who was organizing things - people he had never heard of or had no history in politics…the question he kept asking was ‘who are these people?’ Trump has brought out people who were never in politics before…and it shows..

I fault the media for rewarding chaos.

They are also scared of the base who threaten them and their families. Would you be willing to sacrifice them to extremists?

We miss you Charlie.

republican gop toxic narcissist. Truer words never spoken.

Still miss seeing Charlie Sykes on The Bulwark, but happy to see him popping up here and there, and regularly on MSNBC also. A sane man in politics is becoming a rarity.