Nowadays are a divisive time in politics. Ever since the current President took office, differing opinions have been received with increasingly more negative responses. One of the most surprising sources of Trump’s criticism has been from within his own party. While it may seem like this criticism is coming out of left field, the Republican Party has never been too approving of Trump. All the way back in 2016, when Donald Trump was winning primaries and his rivals were withdrawing their candidacies, the RNC was concerned that Donald Trump might actually win their nomination.

They had good reason. Donald Trump was (and still isn’t) your usual Republican, or even politician. He crudely mocked his opponents and did all that he could to stir controversy. The funny thing is, even though the Republican Party did not like him, Trump’s vocal supporters ensured that they could not do anything to touch him. Trump had essentially hijacked the Republican Party and planned to merely use it as a platform to obtain the presidency. Once Ted Cruz and John Kasich (who even remembers him?) dropped out, it left the door open to do exactly that.

Now we have just settled in to the Trump presidency, and the Republican big wigs still aren’t fans of the guy. Common complaints are that Trump isn’t a typical conservative. Issues that many Republicans are ardently against like abortion and gay marriage don’t seem to cross his mind. Other positions that he holds, such as building the border wall and installing the travel ban, are incredibly right-wing policies that can alienate the more moderate party members.

This, coupled with the slew of controversies that Trump is involved with makes the GOP feel uneasy about him. One prime example from this year is the condemnation Trump faced when he endorsed Roy Moore. Even earlier this year Republican congressmen commented that Trump wasn’t hard enough on the White Nationalist groups that demonstrated in Charlottesville, Virginia. Despite all of this, the die-hard Trump fans still love him just as much as they did when he was running for office, so the party can’t do much to stop him. The Republican Party is in a state of disarray right now. It is between Donald Trump and his loyal supporter versus the majority of other Republicans in office.

In October, Sen. Bob Corker and Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona both declared their dislike of Donald Trump and their concern over the state of the Republican Party. More recently it has been announced that Speaker of the House Paul Ryan may step down from his position and retire from public life. These are all very powerful Republicans who are reacting to President Donald Trump. I don’t know how this ‘civil war’ will end, but for the time being at least, Trump is standing his ground and may become the only remaining voice in his party.