A GOP strategist who once worked for Giuliani says the Republican Party under Trump has basically embraced 'neofascism'

• Susan Del Percio said the GOP under Trump's influence has essentially embraced "neofascism."
• She said the party needs to "burn down" in its current form.
• There has been concern over links between parts of the GOP and far-right extremists.

A GOP strategist has likened the Republican Party under the influence of former President Donald Trump to "neofascism."

Susan Del Percio, who has advised both Republicans and Democrats - including then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York City and Gov. Andrew Cuomo - gave the blistering comments in a Monday interview on MSNBC's "The Reid Out."

She was discussing the decision of Texas GOP chairman Allen West to enter the the state's gubernatorial race. West has attracted criticism for his association with the far-right QAnon movement, having attended a conference where several prominent QAnon figures were present in June.

Del Percio told MSNBC: "Really, I've been looking for a new word for 'Trumpism' because I hate it, because I think it goes deeper than just Donald Trump within the Republican Party.

"And I keep coming back to the same name. It's neofascism. Forget Trumpism. It's neofascism. That's what the grassroots of the party looks like right now."

The comments come amid concern about links between far-right extremists and the GOP undiminished following January's Capitol riot.

In the wake of the violence, some critics of the GOP likened the pro-Trump movement to a right-wing cult of personality, and expressed concern over links between the GOP and far-right extremist groups involved in the violence.

But Republicans such as Rep. Liz Cheney have found themselves marginalized as the former president maintains his influence over the party, with Cheney ousted from her position in the GOP congressional leadership in May over her opposition to Trump.

Meanwhile, GOP Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, a Trump supporter, has not been censured for associating with white-nationalist extremists. Neither has Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has in the past endorsed the QAnon movement.

Allies of the former president retain control of much of the GOP at both a national and state level, and have not moved to distance themselves from the far-right base whose support Trump courted.

A slew of GOP-controlled state legislatures, citing Trump's groundless conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him, have also introduced sweeping new restrictions on access to voting.

In the interview, Del Percio, who is a member of the anti-Trump Lincolm Project of former Republican strategists, said that the GOP in its current manifestation needs to be destroyed.

"It needs to burn down. It literally needs to be demolished before you can go in and build it up again," she said.