A decades-old phrase, “Republican In Name Only,” or RINO for short, is making a comeback, as former President Donald Trump has been using the term to insult political opponents within his party. Political Dictionary defines RINO as “a disparaging term that refers to Republicans whose political views are seen as insufficiently conforming to the party line.” 

 “I think you know, over the last, you know, 10-12 years where this sort of team mentality has become more a tribal mentality,” said Dan Judy, a Republican strategist, consultant, and vice president at North Star Opinion Research. “It takes on an even stronger connotation because you say this person they’re not just on our team they’re not one of us, and so I think that’s why you’re seeing you know, the RINO label is maybe thrown around more than it used to be.”

One of the first documented uses of the phrase “Republican In Name Only” was in a speech by Gov. Benjamin Perry (D-SC). On August 2, 1865, he was quoted in The Star of the North newspaper.

“I thought Mr. Chairman wrote that when the Southern States seceded, there was an end to republican institutions, that the great American experiment was a failure,” Gov. Perry said. “And that we should soon have, both at the North and in the South, strong military governments, which would be republican in name only.” 

Decades later, Republicans used the phrase during President Teddy Roosevelt’s battle to control the Republican party.

On March 3, 1908, The Los Angeles Herald published an article that read, “Mr. Roosevelt, according to Republicans who have found fault with his utterances, is a Republican in name only.”

In the 1990s, political candidates wore suit jackets bearing RINO buttons with red slashes going through them. The Tea Party also used the acronym during the 2010 midterm election to belittle incumbents they thought were not conservative enough. In 2021, RINO is being used to describe some of the most conservative Republicans.

This political ad aired in the Midwest to describe Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH).

“This is a RINO,” the narrator said. “Having mastered the art of deception, the RINO lures his prey by disguising his true nature.”

Trump condemned several Congressional Republicans by calling them RINOs for voting to certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. 

“He’s a grandstanding RINO,” the former president said during a campaign-style rally, referring to Rep. Anthony Gonzales (R-OH).

Gonzales was one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the January 6 Capitol riot. 

“The people that are tossing around this term are those that are really just like, hijacking the party, those that are totally detached from what actually it means to be Republican,” longtime Republican and attorney Douglas Lipsky said.

“Initially, it was about ideology, where, you know, a real Republican was conservative or Republican in name only was a moderate or, you know, maybe even a liberal Republican or a liberal Republicans left. But now the term is not ideological at all,” Judy said.