McMullin explained that he, like other Republicans, has heard for years from Democrats that the GOP is racist. He always rejected that kind of thinking. He rejected it, that is, until the last few years, when he worked in a senior staff position for the GOP in the House of Representatives.

“I spent a lot of time in the Republican Party believing that that was something Democrats and liberals would say, [people] who weren’t interested in really understanding who we were,” McMullin said. “But I have to say in the time that I spent in the House of Representatives and leadership and in senior roles there, I realized that no, they’re actually right. And Donald Trump made it ever more clear that there is a serious problem of racism in the Republican Party. That is the problem. Not conservative ideals. Racism is not conservatism. And that’s what I’m talking about. That’s the problem.”

How can the GOP move forward? I asked if there were policy changes it should pursue — trade, or taxes, or entitlements, or something — to broaden its appeal.

Not really, McMullin said. “We learned lessons after 2012 that we needed to appeal to [minority and younger voters], I don’t think by changing policy as much” — McMullin stopped himself to list some issues the GOP might take up, mentioning criminal justice reform, anti-poverty programs, and general government reform — “but it’s a lot about tone.”