Not on their side

Trump is going after his conservative critics.

Yesterday, I noticed that Donald Bryson, CEO of the John Locke Foundation, retweeted a White House post showing that tariffs have brought an additional $150 billion in revenue. Bryson wrote, “A Republican Administration celebrating $150 billion in new tax revenue that was never approved by Congress.” At first, I thought he was praising the administration and then realized that he was criticizing them.

Good on Mr. Bryson. I wish more conservatives stuck to their principles instead of following the tribe. I hope people like Bryson and his John Locke colleagues hold onto their other conservative values like a restrained federal government as Donald Trump threatens to send federal troops into the nation’s cities and influencing or controlling the means of production by forcing companies like Intel and US Steel to surrender shares of stock to the government.

When Republicans were the conservative party, freedom and liberty were the patriotic values they embraced most. They didn’t want government looking over their shoulders and telling them what to do. They believed in law and order, though, because accountability and personal responsibility are key to ensuring the freedom and liberty they love. They essentially believe, “Follow the rules we all agree upon and nobody will bother you. Break the rules and face harsh consequences.”

Today, Trump is using heavy-handed tactics to harass his opponents. He’s launched probes of his critics, most notably raiding the home of his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton. As political writer Aaron Blake notes, “Over and over again, the administration has not just probed Trump critics, but it’s made a show of it – often in ways that run afoul of legal ethics.”

Trump’s actions point to an authoritarian regime. So far, conservatives like Bryson seem to think this claim is more hyperbole than real. They’re still cheering on tax cuts and deregulation even if they don’t like tariffs and intervention in markets.

That perception is changing, though. Over at The Dispatch, the conservative media outlet that has been critical of Trump while embracing some of his policies, writers and hosts are starting to acknowledge Trump’s more disturbing moves. On their podcast, guest Matt K. Lewis says authoritarianism is now one of the legs of modern conservatism. Writer Nick Cattogio calls the Bolton investigation “corrupt—by design.”

For years, conservatives have overlooked Trump’s authoritarian impulses. They’ve written them off as either bluster or liberal hysteria. Even after they were shocked and unnerved by the attack on the Capitol, they seemed to have written it off as an isolated incident. They want to take the policies they like while criticizing the ones they don’t. That criticism now comes with a risk.

As Trump increasingly abandons democratic norms and shuns the rule of law, the country is going to need a re-alignment of people who are pro-democracy, pro-freedom, and pro-liberty to counter those willing to ignore authoritarianism. As Trump goes after Republican stalwarts like John Bolton, and now Chris Christie, maybe conservative will wake up to the threat Trump poses. He’s not on their side.