By BRET STEPHENS
It has been over nine years since I first criticized Donald Trump as a “boisterous vulgarian appealing to quieter vulgarian sentiments.” I have labeled myself a Never Trump conservative ever since, even when I occasionally concurred with his policies. I also opposed him consistently throughout his campaign this year.
Could his second term be as damaging as his staunchest detractors fear? Absolutely. Is it time to abandon the heavy moralizing and relentless foreboding that characterized much of the Never Trump movement — rendering it politically ineffective and often simplistic? Yes, indeed.
Who is Trump, and what does he represent? He is both a man and the embodiment of a movement. The man is crude yet captivating, uninformed yet perceptive, dishonest yet genuine. The movement is filled with patriotism — and resentment.
Some of that resentment is deeply prejudiced and some of it is misguided. That aspect of the anger garners the most media coverage. However, some of it is rightly aimed at an insular elite that believes it knows best yet often does not, whether the topic is COVID protocols, immigration issues, or encouraging our allies to contribute more to their own defense.
It is Trump’s fierce disdain for that elite — his refusal to conform to their standards or be shamed by their contempt, along with his willingness to expose their hypocrisy — that elevates him to hero status among his supporters. Consider this: How come so many who label Trump a sexual predator were, two decades ago, staunch defenders of Bill Clinton? Why were the same individuals who called for investigations into every aspect of the Trump family’s business dealings so uninterested in the Biden family’s activities, such as the suspiciously high prices for Hunter’s art?
Never Trumpers — I include myself in this critique — never fully grasped the situation. It was not that we had overlooked Clinton’s controversies or were unaware of the Biden allegations. Rather, we believed Trump was undermining the principles that conservatives should uphold. We also thought that Trump represented a kind of illiberalism contrary to our brand of conservatism rooted in “free people, free markets, free world,” which would inevitably lead the Republican Party down a troubling path.
In this, we were not mistaken: There is much to disapprove of and worry about regarding Trump from a conventional conservative viewpoint. However, Never Trumpers also exaggerated our case, undermining our own goals in the process.
How so? We cautioned that Trump would be an impulsive president who could inadvertently trigger World War III. In reality, his foreign policy during his first term often proved overly cautious. We panicked over his unusual friendship with Vladimir Putin. Yet, the collusion claims were a smear, and Trump’s Russia policy — whether opposing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline or aiding Ukraine covertly — was considerably harsher than that of either Barack Obama or (at least until Russia invaded Ukraine) President Joe Biden.
We anticipated that Trump’s rhetoric would harm the Republican Party’s chances of appealing to the demographics deemed essential for its future following 2012. However, we failed to notice that his working-class appeal extended to working-class minorities — evidenced by the 48% of Latino male voters who supported him in the recent election. We expressed unease regarding Trump’s protectionist and extravagant tendencies. Yet, the economy generally prospered under his leadership, at least until the onset of the pandemic.
We also spent considerable time discussing democracy. This is significant: The memories of January 6 and Trump’s falsehoods about the 2020 election were primary factors in my decision to vote for Kamala Harris. But if democracy means anything, it is that common people, not elites, decide how significant events like January 6 are to them. As it turns out, not so much.
What ordinary people prioritized this year were the soaring cost of living and the turmoil at the border. How did Trump — frequently derided by his adversaries as a fortunate simpleton — comprehend this so accurately while we ineffectively debated the nation’s moral condition?
What else did we fail to recognize? That, despite Trump’s propensity for lying, Americans felt deceived by the left — particularly regarding the White House’s concealment of Biden’s physical and mental decline. That, as much as certain elements of the MAGA movement can be bigoted, there is ample bigotry present in many quarters — notably in the wave of Israel criticism and antisemitism emerging from the cultural left following October 7, 2023. That, as much as we dread the potential for Trump to damage our institutions, whether higher education or the FBI, many of those institutions are already in disrepair and may need to be reimagined or replaced.
So here’s a suggestion for Trump’s perennial adversaries, including those of us on the right: Let’s enter the new year wishing the new administration success, extending some of Trump’s Cabinet selections the benefit of the doubt, abandoning exaggerated comparisons to historical dictators, refraining from sounding alarmist about the imminent collapse of democracy, hoping for positive outcomes while acknowledging the need to combat genuine wrongs rather than merely those we fear, recognizing that whatever transpires, this too shall ultimately pass.
Enjoy the holiday season.
