This is an opinion article and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Tulane Hullabaloo.

It appears as though Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election after the Super Tuesday results. The question that many in the Republican Party find ourselves asking is how Trump is winning by such large margins. Trump is, by far, the worst candidate in the race, at least on the Republican side. The fact is that Trump has been a Democrat for his entire life, more recently changing his stance on almost every issue in order to gain support from large factions of the Republican Party. For this and many other reasons, Trump is a terrible candidate to represent Republicans.

I would argue that Trump’s serendipitous rise can be attributed to an anti-establishment fervor sweeping across America. This fervor is not partisan and exists in equal force among Democrats, which also explains the rise of Bernie Sanders.

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are increasingly indistinguishable. The national debt balloons as the two parties agree to pass inflated budgets that take care of their special interests. There appears to be an increasing consensus between the two parties on government overreach and a favoring of special interests over ordinary citizens. The establishment absolutely needs reinvention, but Trump is not the way.

The Republican Party has become increasingly fragmented in recent years. This is indicated clearly by the rise of the Tea Party, a grassroots movement devoted to fighting big government. When considering this, it is easy to see why the Republican field started so big and with so many discordant views. There were a group of candidates jockeying for the anti-establishment Republican Party vote. Rand Paul mobilized a libertarian base frustrated with the size of government. Ted Cruz drew from a similar base with a distinct evangelical tinge. Finally, Trump wowed his Republican base with promises of strong leadership; strong leadership that would “Make America Great Again.”

Republicans around the country are listening to what Trump has to say. Worse, they like it. This is a serious problem for the simple reason that Trump does not embody any of the values that actual conservatives claim to. Trump is far more liberal than he is conservative and can be best described as a right-wing populist. His entire platform boils down to a few broad statements which include “We’re going to win,” “We’re going to make America great again” and “I’m a great negotiator.” His taglines, which sound nice to all of his supporters, are punctuated by a series of outright lies which include bogus statistics about murder by race and the Mexican government sending criminals to America.

What should cause fear and anger among true conservatives is Trump’s utter disregard for our most basic constitutional protections. Recently, Trump bashed the media and followed up, however, by saying that he would “open up libel laws.” Simply put, Trump is claiming that he would be happy to use the government under his administration to silence dissent. In effect, he would ignore First Amendment rights of the press. This is unacceptable.

Trump is a tyrant who proudly proclaims that he will rule as one to cheering crowds. The world has seen it many times and will see it many more times. Unfortunately, 2016 appears to be a year in which Republicans have decided to part with their Constitutional freedoms in exchange for a self-proclaimed “strong” leader. A party that nominates Donald Trump is not a party that can retain legitimacy.

Jack is a junior in Newcomb-Tulane College. He can be reached at [email protected].