Donald Trump is poised to win the Republican nomination after his many primary and caucus wins of the last few weeks. The Republican Party is  horrified that, in November, Trump may lose the election to the Democrats or make a drastic move that could destroy the modern GOP.

The United States government functions on a system of checks and balances. However, due to the introduction of Tea Party extremists, the Republican Party has grown very extreme. The Tea Party has broken all norms for the past couple of years by shutting down the government, increasing debt limits, blocking nominations to administration positions and denying the President the right to appoint a new Justice in the Supreme Court.

Trump’s almost guaranteed win has many Republicans terrified that they will suffer a massive defeat in November, turning the members of the party against each other and purging the extremists from the party.  “I believe that only when the GOP suffers a massive defeat will it purge itself of the crazies and forces of intolerance that have taken control of it. Then, and only then, can the GOP become a center-right governing party that deserves to occupy the White House,” says American historian Bruce Barlett.

Others believe Donald Trump is not a true Republican; many Republican officials have publicly condemned him. “As a conservative who truly cares about religious liberty, Donald Trump’s bad idea and rhetoric send a shiver down my spine,” tweeted Matt Moore, head of the Republican Party in South Carolina, a key early voting state in the presidential primary process.  Many of the Republicans believe Trump is corrupting Republican values and voting for him is betraying the true party. They believe that corruption of conservative values by extremists like Trump will lead to the destruction of the Republican Party.

If Donald Trump is the next candidate, or the next President, chaos will occur and the Republican Party could be in grave danger. Some believe the entire institution will fall to pieces. Could Trump be the destruction of the Party, and is it too late to change it?