Conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza warns in a recent X post that minorities may well “abandon the GOP in droves” if the kind of racist attacks leveled at Vivek Ramaswamy continue unchecked.

Ramaswamy, born in Cincinnati to Indian immigrant parents, shared a benign Halloween photo of himself with his sons. That, apparently, was enough to provoke a wave of racial and xenophobic remarks—one user wrote, “I see this year Vivek went as an H1B immigrant here to steal your jobs. Very scary. Like the brown version of the Grinch.”

Look at the abuse Vivek is getting for posting an innocuous photo with his boys. This is the sh*tshow that Heritage and Tucker have brought upon us. If this continues, I would not be surprised to see mass desertions of blacks, Latinos and other minorities from the GOP. Unreal. https://t.co/nUZRRBCUP2

— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) November 3, 2025

That's reprehensible enough on a moral level, but the potential political scar is just as bad.

Liberals like to tout “inclusion” often as a pandering slogan. But conservatives should view it as a strategic imperative and moral duty. (So should liberals, but that's another story.)

Here are three takeaways for conservatives who care about both principle and party strength:

• Reject racial hostility. When one of our own is subject to racial attack, we must respond .Ignoring this issue implies that the party condones bigotry, which contradicts both conservative values and coalition-building.
• Broaden the GOP’s appeal without abandoning our principles. The GOP has for years struggled to win sizable support among black, Hispanic and Asian voters. But broadening appeal doesn’t mean compromising on our core commitments: limited government, personal responsibility, free enterprise and strong national defense.
• Hold our own movement accountable. Leadership (in media, politics, etc.) should not treat this as a “culture war” win over others, but as a challenge to our own integrity. As D’Souza warned, desertions of minorities aren’t hypothetical; they could reshape electoral maps.

This effort doesn't require the majority to change their beliefs. Rather, the party must prove it is a coalition built not on identity resentment but on a shared purpose to promote liberty, opportunity and the Constitution.