President Donald Trump has long branded Republicans who break with him as "RINOs," or "Republicans in Name Only." The epithet has circulated in Republican politics for decades, but under Trump it became one of his signature put-downs — and now a former leader of the Republican National Committee argues that the insult increasingly fits the president himself.

Kevin Igoe, a veteran Republican operative who served as deputy chief of staff of the Republican National Committee, executive director of the Maryland Republican Party and an appointee in the Reagan administration, made the case in an op-ed for The Hill. Igoe now frequently publishes commentary criticizing Trump and his influence over the Republican Party, and his latest piece addresses the growing irony behind one of the president's favorite insults.

The source of the critique is part of its significance: than coming from Democratic opponents or outside commentators, the "RINO" reversal comes from a career Republican insider whose résumé spans the party's national committee, a state party organization and the Reagan administration.

"One of President Trump's most frequent and favorite epithets for his Republican antagonists is 'RINO'... But the evidence suggests that the president should be mindful of the old adage: 'People who live in glass houses should not throw stones,'" Igoe wrote.

Nearing the midpoint of his second term, Igoe argued, Trump has "turned his back on long held Republican principles which have glued together the conservative movement for decades." That marks a very different record from the first term, when, in Igoe's telling, Trump "used his business acumen to produce solid economic growth through tax cuts and deregulation."

Since retaking office, Igoe contended, Trump has left the genuine "principles of conservatism" on the "cutting room floor," pursuing an agenda devoted to enriching himself, satisfying his appetite for revenge and playing exclusively to "MAGA faithfuls." In the process, he wrote, Trump has "routinely" assaulted the legal system and the rule of law, and has alienated the United States on the world stage through what he called meaningless trade wars and threats to NATO.

"Those actions are a very long way from 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,'" Igoe added, invoking the famous line from the 1987 Brandenburg Gate speech delivered by his former boss, President Ronald Reagan. For Republicans of Igoe's generation, that address — delivered at the Berlin Wall and remembered as a defining moment of Cold War-era conservatism — remains a touchstone of the "peace through strength" outlook he urges the party to reclaim.

Igoe also pointed to a contradiction in Trump's habit of denouncing Democratic opponents as "socialists." "[For] the leader of a party that has taken partial ownership in 31 private corporations it is indeed rich to castigate others as socialistic," he wrote. "You may recall a principle of socialism: government ownership of the means of production."

He concluded: "True conservatives are realizing that Trump is using the Republican Party for his own convenience. Trump's presidency seems rooted in a policy du jour mindset which responds first and foremost to pleasuring his insatiable ego. America will survive this 'all about me' presidency. If my beloved Republican Party wants to survive it, it must return to its conservative roots of small government, personal freedoms, peace through strength, moral leadership of freedom-loving people and especially respect for our constitutional principles."

It remains to be seen whether Igoe's argument finds wider resonance among the party's elected officials and voters as Trump's second term passes its midpoint and the 2026 midterm campaigns take shape.

This article is based on reporting by Alternet.