The story of California in the Trump era is one of both resistance and collaboration – a tension that will help determine the success or failure of the most polarizing president in modern American politics.
Co-published by International Business Times
California’s GOP Congressional delegation has formed the backbone of Trump’s legislative efforts, marching largely in lockstep with the president’s agenda, even in districts where such Trump priorities as Obamacare repeal might adversely affect large numbers of their constituents.
California provides a substantial number of Trump’s enablers and protectors. Some conceal their support of the president and his far-right policies behind venerated towers, such as Stanford University; others simply keep mum in the presumed anti-Trump bastion of Silicon Valley.
As the 2016 presidential campaign intensified, California business people would prove to be a critical source of financial support for Donald Trump, especially as more traditional GOP donors kept their distance from the unconventional candidate.