It's unwise being disrespectful about Republican (9)
I believe the answer is:
imprudent
'it's unwise' is the definition.
('imprudent' can be similar in meaning to 'unwise')
'disrespectful about republican' is the wordplay.
'disrespectful' becomes 'impudent' ('impudent' can be similar in meaning to 'disrespectful').
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'impudent' placed around 'r' is 'IMPRUDENT'.
'being' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for imprudent that I've seen before include "Unwise" , "not wise" , "Lacking in good sense or caution" , "Rash, lacking discretion" , "'making the wrong choices'?" .)