The candidates of the right-wing faction compete with Trump by moving even further to the right. While Pope Francis prays for Syrian refugees, Ben Carson compares them to rabid dogs. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says most criminals are Democrats, a bigoted dog whistle attack that would make the National Front party proud.

The GOP bloodbath has begun and will worsen as the nomination battle intensifies and voting becomes imminent and ultimately arrives. Trump will continue to insult and berate his GOP opponents. They will be forced to respond in kind. The venom, vitriol and vindictiveness of Republican against Republican will escalate to a white-hot intensity.

The GOP is now embroiled in a civil war between an anti-establishment, far-right wing led by Trump, Carson and Cruz and a traditional center-right wing divided among multiple weak candidates and supported by fearful GOP leaders and mainstream donors.

Civil wars can be the bloodiest battles. The two competing wings of the GOP hold each other in great contempt that will become increasingly aggressive and ugly. We will soon see a Stop Trump movement that will probably decide the ultimate nominee, leading an angry Trump to run as a third-party candidate, which will create grave danger for a bitterly divided GOP.