Republican in name only#Gypsy moth Republican

The phrase Republican in name only emerged as a popular political pejorative in the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s.{{cite web |title=RINO (Republican In Name Only) |url=http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/rino_republican_in_name_only |last=Popik |first=Barry |work=Big Apple Corner |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-date=October 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019172953/https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/rino_republican_in_name_only |url-status=live }}

The earliest known print appearance of the acronym RINO was in 1992 in the Manchester, New Hampshire, newspaper then called The Union Leader.{{Cite web |url=http://www.wordspy.com/words/rino.asp |title=RINO |work=Word spy |last=McFedries |first=Paul |publisher=Logophilia Limited |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-date=July 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716181224/http://www.wordspy.com/words/RINO.asp |url-status=dead }} RINO is pronounced like the word "rhino", and can be used to associate disloyal Republicans with the large, thick-skinned animal.{{Cite web|title=RINO – Neologisms|url=https://neologisms.rice.edu/index.php?a=term&d=1&t=2100|access-date=November 15, 2020|website=neologisms.rice.edu|archive-date=May 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512190302/https://neologisms.rice.edu/index.php?a=term&d=1&t=2100|url-status=live}}

{{blockquote |Bill Clinton would have been proud of what was happening on the third-floor Senate corner at the State House this week. ... The Republicans were moving out and the Democrats and "RINOs" (Republicans In Name Only) were moving in. |John DiStaso |{{cite news |title=Merrill Taps Scamman, Strome and a Thomson |newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader |date=December 31, 1992 }}}}

Buttons featuring a red slash through an image of a rhinoceros were spotted in the New Hampshire State House as early as 1992.{{cite news |date=December 16, 1992 |last=Landrigan |first=Kevin |author-link=Kevin Landrigan |title=Spirou's 'commitments' could disappear in February |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s5lKAAAAIBAJ&dq=rino%20republican%20name-only&pg=6245%2C3837269 |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Nashua, New Hampshire |publisher=Terrence Williams |page=21 |volume=123 |number=216 |quote=Button of the week: It's slowly making the rounds as circulation is small but the "RINO" (pronounced "Rhino") could become a collector's item. Pictured is naturally the animal with a Ghostbuster's slash through it. |access-date=December 3, 2020 |archive-date=June 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612203352/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s5lKAAAAIBAJ&dq=rino%20republican%20name-only&pg=6245,3837269 |url-status=live }} In 1993, future California Republican Assembly President Celeste Greig distributed buttons featuring a red slash over the word RINO to express opposition to Los Angeles mayor Richard Riordan. The term came into widespread usage during subsequent election cycles.

During Republican primary campaign season, some conservative organizations target Republicans who fail to adopt their stances by referring to them as RINOs. A "RINO Hunters Club" formed by the National Federation of Republican Assemblies has taken political action against those they considered RINOs.{{cite web |url=http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=221 |title=Republican Cannibals: Hunting for RINOs |date=August 27, 2004 |publisher=The Nation |work=Agence Global |last=Nichols |first=John |author-link=John Nichols (journalist) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319163130/http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=221 |archive-date=March 19, 2012}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/opinion/22brooks.html|date=October 22, 2006|website=The New York Times|title=Thinning the Herd|first=David|last=Brooks|authorlink=David Brooks (commentator)|accessdate=June 10, 2023|archive-date=June 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610142055/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/opinion/22brooks.html|url-status=live}} The fiscally conservative 501(c)4 organization Club for Growth started the "RINO Watch" list to monitor "Republican office holders around the nation who have advanced egregious anti-growth, anti-freedom or anti-free market policies"; other conservative groups published similar lists.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=quoted text has been changed}}

Donald Trump and his closest supporters have frequently used the term to describe anyone within the Republican Party he deems to be disloyal. During the 2020 presidential election in the United States, Donald Trump used the term to refer to Georgia governor, Brian Kemp, and Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, due to their refusal to challenge the election results in Georgia during his attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election. He also used the term to refer to Maryland governor Larry Hogan in a tweet,{{Cite web|last=Cillizza|first=Chris|date=November 17, 2020|title=Analysis: How this Republican became the most hated man in his party|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/brad-raffensperger-donald-trump-loeffler-perdue-georgia-recount/index.html|access-date=November 22, 2020|website=CNN|archive-date=June 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220612203351/https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/brad-raffensperger-donald-trump-loeffler-perdue-georgia-recount/index.html|url-status=live}} as well as House and Senate Republicans who either voted to impeach and convict him during his second impeachment following the January 6 United States Capitol attack or who voted for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill supported by President Joe Biden. Recently, the term has been used to describe Republican critics of former President Donald Trump, with Trump himself tweeting that Congressional Republicans who recognized Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 US Presidential election are RINOs. Some Republicans critical of Trump occasionally used the epithet to describe Trump himself, due to his history as a registered Democrat.{{cite web | url = https://washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/20/bill-weld-donald-trump-rino/ | title = Bill Weld: Donald Trump is a RINO - Washington Times | website = The Washington Times | access-date = August 12, 2020 | archive-date = November 7, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201107231604/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/aug/20/bill-weld-donald-trump-rino/ | url-status = live }}{{cite web | url = https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-rino-or-gray-rhino_b_578d26a9e4b05e7343a67f42 | title = Trump: RINO or Gray Rhino? {{!}} HuffPost null | date = July 19, 2016 | access-date = August 12, 2020 | archive-date = September 28, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230928135808/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-rino-or-gray-rhino_b_578d26a9e4b05e7343a67f42 | url-status = live }}

After former Secretary of State Colin Powell died in 2021, Trump described him as a "classic RINO".{{cite web|last=Garrison|first=Joey|date=October 18, 2021|title='Country before self ... before all else': US presidents remember Colin Powell as American hero|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/18/colin-powell-remembered-biden-former-presidents/8505549002/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018223151/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/18/colin-powell-remembered-biden-former-presidents/8505549002/|archive-date=October 18, 2021|access-date=October 19, 2021|website=USA Today}}{{Cite web|last=Benen|first=Steve|author-link=Steve Benen|title=Trump admonishes Colin Powell the day after his death|url=https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-admonishes-colin-powell-day-after-his-death-n1281919|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020171040/https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-admonishes-colin-powell-day-after-his-death-n1281919|archive-date=October 20, 2021|access-date=October 20, 2021|website=MSNBC.com|date=October 19, 2021 |language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Jackson|first=David|title=Amid tributes to Colin Powell, Donald Trump disparages former secretary of state|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/19/donald-trump-disparages-powell-day-after-his-death/8520943002/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020171039/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/10/19/donald-trump-disparages-powell-day-after-his-death/8520943002/|archive-date=October 20, 2021|access-date=October 20, 2021|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}} After former Vice President Dick Cheney endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Trump referred him as an "irrelevant RINO".{{Cite web|last=Irwin|first=Lauren|title=Trump slams Dick Cheney as 'irrelevant' after he backed Harris|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4867243-donald-trump-dick-cheney-liz-cheney-kamala-harris-2024-election/|date=September 7, 2024|website=The Hill|language=en-US}}

After Tom Emmer failed to get the nomination to Speaker of the House, Trump blasted him as a RINO before the press and on Truth Social. Four hours after the failed vote, Emmer withdrew the nomination and lost.{{Cite web |last=Singman |first=Brooke |date=2023-10-24 |title=Trump blasts Emmer as 'globalist RINO,' warns Republicans it would be 'tragic mistake' to elect him speaker |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-blasts-emmer-globalist-rino-warns-republicans-would-be-tragic-mistake-elect-him-speaker |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last1=Neukam |first1=Stephen |last2=McPherson |first2=Lindsey |last3=Rojas |first3=Warren |last4=Neukam |first4=Stephen |last5=McPherson |first5=Lindsey |last6=Rojas |first6=Warren |date=2023-10-24 |title=Tom Emmer Flames Out Hours After Winning GOP Speaker Nomination |url=https://themessenger.com/politics/tom-emmer-flames-out-hours-after-winning-gop-speaker-nomination |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231024202947/https://themessenger.com/politics/tom-emmer-flames-out-hours-after-winning-gop-speaker-nomination |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2023 |access-date=2023-10-26 |website=The Messenger |language=en}}

The concept of being an inauthentic member of the Republican Party by not representing its more conservative faction is a recurring theme in party history.

{{distinguish|MeToo movement}}

In the 1930s and 1940s, the term Me-too Republicans described those running on a platform of agreeing with the Democratic Party, proclaiming only minor or moderating philosophical differences.{{cite news |title=Suspense, contrast missing in election countdown |last=Shapiro |first=Walter |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/shapiro/2002-10-29-hype_x.htm |newspaper=USA Today |date=October 29, 2002 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604071054/http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/shapiro/2002-10-29-hype_x.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Assessing Last Week's Column |url=http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17702 |last=Blankley |first=Tony |date=October 25, 2006 |access-date=December 14, 2010 |publisher=Human Events |archive-date=January 31, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131211407/http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=17702 |url-status=live }} An example is two-time presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey, who ran against the popular Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successor Harry Truman. Dewey did not oppose Roosevelt's New Deal programs altogether, but merely campaigned on the promise that Republicans would run them more efficiently and less corruptly.

{{blockquote |Let me warn the nation, against the smooth evasion which says, "of course we believe all these things, we believe in social-security, we believe in work for the unemployed, we believe in saving homes—cross our hearts and hope to die, we believe in all these things. But we do not like the way the president's administration is doing them. Just turn them over to us. We will do all of them—we will do more of them, we will do them better; and, most important of all, the doing of them will not cost anybody anything! |President and Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt |addressing a Democratic audience in New York, September 1936{{cite web |title=Roosevelt and Reagan: Eternal Optimists |url=http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/?id=C0CA7C53-F153-5D40-EF3F207BB2A677F2&CFID=9282716&CFTOKEN=68294622 |first=Richard Norton |last=Smith |publisher=Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies |access-date=14 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527150758/http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/roosevelt-and-reagan-423.htm |archive-date=27 May 2012 |quote=In the 1936 election, FDR had a field day with so-called "me too" Republicans.}}{{cite AV media |people=Franklin D. Roosevelt |year=1936 |title=FDR 'Let Me Warn You' |language=en |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3aO_s0Yuv8 | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/N3aO_s0Yuv8| archive-date=November 17, 2021 | url-status=live|access-date=December 1, 2019 |time=0:01 }}{{cbignore}} }}

From 1936 to 1976, the more centrist members of the Republican Party frequently won the national nomination with candidates such as Alf Landon, Wendell Willkie, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Gerald Ford. The mainstream of the Republican Party was generally supportive of the New Deal. In the 1950s, conservatives such as Robert A. Taft and Barry Goldwater, who rallied against "me-too Republicans",{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962804,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221221632/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962804,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 21, 2008 |title=Farewell to a Quartet of Kings of the Hill |magazine=Time |publisher=Time, Inc. |date=November 10, 1986}} were considered outside of the mainstream; serious consideration was given to leaving the then GOP and forming a new ultra-conservative party in coalition with the "states' rights" Democrats of the South.{{cite book |last=Perlstein |first=Rick |title=Before the Storm |date=March 21, 2001 |publisher=Hill and Wang |isbn=978-0-8090-2859-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/beforestormbarry0000perl/page/13 13] |quote=... the recipe for a new conservative party was plain: one part Midwestern Taft Republican, one part Southern states' rights Democrat. |url=https://archive.org/details/beforestormbarry0000perl/page/13 }}

In the 1960s and 1970s, Republicans considered liberal on economic issues but hawkish on foreign policy and social issues were sometimes called "Nixonian", or "Rockefeller Republicans".{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/billsrun/mommy-whats-a-rino/ |title=Bill's Run: Overview: Mommy, What's a RINO? |work=Bill's Run: A Political Journey in Rural Kansas |publisher=PBS |year=2004 |access-date=November 26, 2016 |archive-date=November 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127094805/http://www.pbs.org/pov/billsrun/mommy-whats-a-rino/ |url-status=dead }}

In the 1980s, the term gypsy moth Republican described Republicans from the Northeast and Midwest who voted against the Ronald Reagan administration's proposed cuts in aid to economically distressed people, contrasting with boll weevil Democrats, who voted for these cuts.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19810921&id=4N00AAAAIBAJ&pg=4532,2205035&hl=en |title='Gypsy Moth Republicans' |last=McManus |first=Michael J. |work=Bangor Daily News |date=September 21, 1981 |page=16 |volume=93 |number=97 |quote=What was needed was a Northern counterweight to the "Boll Weevil Democrats", some 50 Southerners who consistently voted with [President Reagan] to whack at [aid to economically distressed people] ... some 20 Frostbelt Republicans have decided to defect from their lockstop White House support ... |access-date=April 28, 2016 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208191839/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19810921&id=4N00AAAAIBAJ&pg=4532%2C2205035&hl=en |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://politicaldictionary.com/words/gypsy-moth-republican/ |title=Gypsy moth |last=Goddard |first=Taegan |website=Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary |access-date=October 6, 2015 |archive-date=October 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007090007/http://politicaldictionary.com/words/gypsy-moth-republican/ |url-status=live }} The gypsy moth is an invasive species destructive to trees in the Northeastern United States.{{cite web |title=Gypsy Moth |url=http://datcp.wi.gov/Environment/Gypsy_Moth/index.aspx |publisher=Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection |access-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831145736/http://datcp.wi.gov/Environment/Gypsy_Moth/index.aspx |archive-date=August 31, 2011 }}

In 2015 the term cuckservative, a portmanteau of cuckold and conservative, was popularized on the online forum 4chan, and embraced by both internet trolls and the nativist alt-right.{{cite news |author= |date=August 7, 2015 |title=Getting Cucky: A Brief Primer On The Radical Right's Newest 'Cuckservative' Meme |url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/08/07/getting-cucky-brief-primer-radical-right%E2%80%99s-newest-%E2%80%98cuckservative%E2%80%99-meme |newspaper=Southern Poverty Law Center |access-date=August 21, 2015 |quote=... spread fast across the radical right. And ... found its way into the political mainstream. ... White supremacists ... tailor its definition to further describe politicians who don't fall in line with the white nationalist cause. |archive-date=August 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815052357/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2015/08/07/getting-cucky-brief-primer-radical-right%E2%80%99s-newest-%E2%80%98cuckservative%E2%80%99-meme |url-status=live }} The metaphorical "{{dfn|1=cuck|title=short for "cuckold"}}" is represented in a genre of interracial pornography as a masochistic white husband who allows his wife to have sex with a stronger black man, thereby participating in his own symbolic emasculation.{{cite web |last=Kovacs |first=Kasla |title=What Is A Cuckservative? Alt-Right Insult Used By White Nationalists To Describe The Republican Establishment |website=International Business Times |date=February 14, 2017 |url=https://www.ibtimes.com/what-cuckservative-alt-right-insult-used-white-nationalists-describe-republican-2491918 |quote=Cuckold pornography portrays a white man watching his wife have sex with another man — usually well-endowed, and usually black. |access-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216203004/https://www.ibtimes.com/what-cuckservative-alt-right-insult-used-white-nationalists-describe-republican-2491918 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Nordlinger |first=Jay |author-link=Jay Nordlinger |title=What Is a Conservative? |date=February 19, 2017 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-conservative-question-c-pac-and-milo-yiannopoulos/ |website=National Review |quote="The idea is, white conservative men enjoy seeing their wives have sexual relations with dark-skinned men, for the purpose of making the country at large darker." |access-date=February 16, 2020 |archive-date=June 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617070510/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/what-conservative-question-c-pac-and-milo-yiannopoulos/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Heer |first=Jeet |date=July 26, 2015 |title=Conservatives Are Holding a Conversation About Race |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/122372/conservatives-are-holding-conversation-about-race |newspaper=New Republic |access-date=August 21, 2015 |archive-date=July 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729080954/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122372/conservatives-are-holding-conversation-about-race |url-status=live }}{{cite web|last1=Walsh|first1=Joan|author-link=Joan Walsh|title=The GOP crack-up continues|date=August 3, 2015|url=http://www.salon.com/2015/08/03/the_gop_crack_up_continues_the_raging_civil_war_over_the_disgusting_%E2%80%9Ccuckservative%E2%80%9D_slur/|website=Salon|access-date=November 18, 2015|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816052048/https://www.salon.com/2015/08/03/the_gop_crack_up_continues_the_raging_civil_war_over_the_disgusting_%E2%80%9Ccuckservative%E2%80%9D_slur/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last1=Bernstein|first1=Joseph|title=Behind The Racist Hashtag That Is Blowing Up Twitter|date=July 27, 2015|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/behind-the-racist-hashtag-some-donald-trump-fans-love#.tfxNevKpWb|website=BuzzFeed|access-date=November 18, 2015|archive-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820012156/http://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/behind-the-racist-hashtag-some-donald-trump-fans-love#.tfxNevKpWb|url-status=live}} In white supremacist vernacular, the term is an accusation of yielding to non-white interests on issues such as immigration or modern display of the Confederate flag;{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/29/cuckservative-the-conservative-insult-of-the-month-explained/ |title='Cuckservative' – the conservative insult of the month, explained |last=Weigel |first=David |author-link=David Weigel |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=July 29, 2015 |access-date=August 5, 2015 |archive-date=April 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429191849/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/29/cuckservative-the-conservative-insult-of-the-month-explained/ |url-status=live }} however, the term gained use (with some controversy) by more mainstream conservatives to denounce Republicans whose compromises included vote trading, rhetorical restraint in deference to donors, cooperation with Democrats on any particular initiative, or attempting to court voters by making appeals to supposedly liberal ideals.{{cite news |last=Rappeport |first=Alan |date=August 13, 2015 |title=From the Right, a New Slur for G.O.P. Candidates |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/us/from-the-right-a-new-slur-for-gop-candidates.html |newspaper=New York Times |access-date=August 21, 2015 |quote=The radical nature of those ideas along with the pornographic connotations associated with "cuckold" have made the word a subject of hand-wringing among some conservative commentators. |archive-date=August 16, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150816004638/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/13/us/from-the-right-a-new-slur-for-gop-candidates.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Yuhas |first=Alan |date=August 13, 2015 |title='Cuckservative': the internet's latest Republican insult hits where it hurts |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/13/cuckservative-republicans-conservatives-jeb-bush |newspaper=The Guardian |quote=The insult's most general gist is conservatives accused of bowing to one non-conservative idea or another, eg immigration reform, should feel humiliated, their ideology adulterated. |access-date=May 3, 2016 |archive-date=August 19, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150819021412/http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/13/cuckservative-republicans-conservatives-jeb-bush |url-status=live }}

• Blue Dog Coalition
• A Call for American Renewal
• Democrat in name only
• Half-Breeds (politics)
• Libertarian Republican
• The Lincoln Project, a group of former Republicans critical of Trump
• Never Trump movement
• Red Tory, a similar term applied to left-leaning Conservatives in Canada and the United Kingdom
• The Bulwark (website), a conservative news website also critical of Trump
• Republican Accountability Project
• Ripon Society
• Rockefeller Republican
• Stalwart (politics)
• Progressive conservatism
• Liberal conservatism

{{reflist}}

Category:Republican Party (United States) terminology

Category:1992 neologisms

Category:Political pejoratives for people

Category:Political terminology of the United States

Category:Political metaphors referring to people

Category:Never Trump movement

Category:Centrism in the United States