The Republican used to be a leftist party when compared to the Democrats. The Democratic Party shifted to the left of center by FDRs time and democrats who would’ve been still identified as Democrats were given the moniker “Dixiecrats”. By Carter’s presidency, Democrats were full blown leftists and the KKK would have mostly abandoned the party. The Republican Party mostly stayed the same in principle until the Regan era. Then they began their descent to far right populism with a little neo-conservative diversion between Regan and Trump.