Cry about Republican fight (5)
I believe the answer is:
brawl
'fight' is the definition.
(I know that fight can be written as brawl)
'cry about republican' is the wordplay.
'cry' becomes 'bawl' (synonyms).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'bawl' going around 'r' is 'BRAWL'.
(Other definitions for brawl that I've seen before include "squabble" , "Noisy quarrel" , "Noisy crowd fight" , "Scuffle, unseemly fight" , "Rough, noisy fight" .)