The contortionists among American ruling political class are at it again. This week, New York Times columnist Bret Stephens—a (formerly) prominent Never Trumper and one of the paper’s requisite moralizing conservatives—threw in the towel. In his column, entitled “Done With Never Trump,” Stephens wrote:
“We also thought that Trump represented a form of illiberalism that was antithetical to our ‘free people, free markets, free world’ brand of conservatism and that was bound to take the Republican Party down a dark road.
In this we weren’t wrong: There’s plenty to dislike and fear about Trump from a traditionally conservative standpoint. But Never Trumpers also overstated our case and, in doing so, defeated our purpose.”
Meanwhile, CNN has been reporting that Republican lawmakers have decided Liz Cheney “should be prosecuted for probing what happened during the January 6th Capitol attacks.” In just the past couple of days, president-elect Donald Trump has sued Iowa pollster Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register because they released a poll she conducted that showed Harris winning Iowa during the final days of the campaign, while ABC News has settled a defamation suit brought by the president-elect to the tune of $15 million. (The network will also pay Trump’s legal fees in the case.)
Further, we’re seeing widespread preemptive obeisance from the plutocrat class to Trump’s wishes and his outstretched hand, as I wrote about here. Does this all sound like Never Trumpers “overstated their case” to you?
Bret Stephens has never found a noodle limp enough for his liking, but this is ridiculous. I don’t know what was worse: When the nation’s elites blamed the nation’s underclass for Trump’s successes in 2016 or when they’re blaming themselves now. Actually, I do—it’s when they blame themselves. As Stephens wrote:
“What ordinary people really cared about this year were the high cost of living and the chaos at the border. Why did Trump—so often deprecated by his critics as a fortunate fool—understand this so well while we fecklessly carried on about the soul of the nation?”
Who are these “ordinary people” of whom you speak, B? And why are you placing Kamala Harris voters outside of the “ordinary” domain? Who is an ordinary American, anyway? Does one have to order bottomless coffee and two eggs over easy at a diner in the Midwest to be ordinary? Yes, most diners have signs that read “No shirt, no shoes, no service,” but the shirt you choose need to wear not be a hairshirt.
This handwringing among the nation’s chattering class amounts to little more than self-pitying twaddle. The new administration is exactly the threat to democracy and American institutions that they’ve long claimed it would be. Just because Trump didn’t sic the Justice Department on his political enemies last time around doesn’t mean he won’t do it in the future—the near future, if not the right now, as Stephens’ own newspaper is currently reporting. Here’s the Times’ take on the Selzer news: “President-elect Trump has said he would use his power to punish people he claims have wronged him. Those goals are now coming into focus.”
Bret, sorry for harping on this, but how is Trump using his power to punish his political opponents not a form of illiberalism antithetical not just to your precious party but to the entire country?
I remember in 2016 when Trump first got elected, those same contortionist folks were tripping over themselves to “give him a chance.” The American people had spoken, they said, and we ought to listen to what they’d said they wanted; to swallow our pride and give the man an opportunity to demonstrate what he could do. And then we saw what he did—it sucked.
Never Trump Republicans have always left me with a sour taste because, as I suspected, “never” really means “never until such a time as it becomes inconvenient.” We’ve seen capitulation from prominent Republicans like David French, Joe Scarborough, Christopher Wray, Mitt “I’m not particularly worried about criminal investigations” Romney and more since Nov. 5.
In his piece, Stephens wrote that we should stop the “heavy moralizing” around Trump? Should we, though? Should we stop insisting that a man found liable of sexual battery not to inhabit the Oval Office? Should we stop pointing out the frauds, grifts, lies, threats and saber-rattling that flow like nonsense clockwork every time he opens his mouth?
In a January 2021 column, Stephens wrote that the GOP was “walking to the edge of moral irredeemability.” Bret, would you say the GOP has become more or less moral in the days since then? If they were at the edge then, where are they now? Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like they broke right and are now paving new and most certainly irredeemable “dark roads.” The only difference between then and now is that you’ve just strapped on a neon safety vest to assist the work crew.
Stephens and his peers might be done with Never Trump, folding their hands—and their principles—as their former foe returns to power, but there are millions of us who are not. There has not been a hopeful sign since the election that Trump has any intention of moderating his rhetoric, and just about every action he has taken during the transition has indicated that he plans on being the worst version of himself. Maybe the country can hold itself together for another four chaotic years. But it won’t be because of capitulation.
If we make it through, it will be because millions of ordinary Never Trumpers like me held tough.
