Commentary

When I saw the April 30, 2024 cover of Time magazine featuring former President Trump in a serious, but casual pose with the title, “If He Wins,” I got to thinking about another cover, on the February 15, 2016 of National Review magazine emblazoned with the words, “Against Trump” in gold over a blue background.

I recall the shock of seeing the magazine of William F. Buckley Jr. bearing that title, but of course he passed away eight years earlier.

I also remember my disappointment in reading the brief essays contributed by prominent conservatives, a few of them mostly right-minded members of the media, who foolishly came out against Trump in that infamous edition.

I began to wonder about Never Trumpers, wondering if their disdain for the former president is so deep that they would reelect President Biden, or simply not vote in November?

There isn’t much in the news about Never Trumpers these days, but I know they’re out there, keeping to themselves.  In their hearts, however, they know the four years under President Trump were much better than the three we’ve experienced so far under Biden.

I thought it might be interesting to see how the opinions of those who contributed to the Against Trump edition, many of whom I continue to follow today, for their views.

Andrew McCarthy

I you have been following the trials of former President Trump, you will know McCarthy, former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, who has been commenting on proceedings on Fox News Channel.

In the Against Trump edition, McCarthy made the point that Trump was unaware of who the leaders of Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and ISIS, insisting, “Of course a man who wants to be president should make it his business to know such things.”

We now know that he got to know them quickly and sent them to visit the 72 Virgins for Martyrs.

In a piece for National Review on June 18, 2023, responding to a crank writing on Twitter, he wrote, “I am guilty, it seems, of “never Trumper” hypocrisy.  I’m a peculiar breed of never Trumper – the sort who, however, reluctantly, voted for Trump twice and penned an endorsement of his 2020 reelection bid, entitled “Just look at the alternative.”  He added that he “wouldn’t vote for him again,” but another year has passed and the alternative he opposed in 2020 is still his opponent.

Thomas Sowell

In his essay for the infamous edition of National Review, Thomas Sowell, the respected senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, wrote, “No doubt much of the stampede of Republican voters toward Mr. Trump is based on their disgust with the Republican establishment.  But are elections held for the purpose of venting emotions?

“Worst what is even more remarkable is that, after seven years of repeated disasters, both domestically and internationally, under a glib egomaniac in the White House, so many potential voters are turning to another glib egomaniac to be his successor.”

Just one week after the 2016 election, however, Sowell in column for Investor’s Business Daily, wrote, “The good news is that we dodged a bullet in this election. A Hillary Clinton victory would have meant a third consecutive administration dedicated to dismantling the institutions that have kept America free, and imposing instead the social vision of the smug elites.

“On the morning after Mr. Trump’s upset victory over Mrs. Clinton, a newswoman at CNN mentioned the disappointment of some women that ‘glass ceiling’ was not shattered as expected.  What an insult to everyone’s intelligence is that catch phrase, ‘glass ceiling.’”

Sowell concluded with the observation that Trump, like Ronald Reagan, bear no resemblance to the candidates who epitomized the Republican establishment’s model, like Dole, McCain and Romney.

L. Brent Bozell

Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center, of which I have been a member since 2016, also contributed his opinion of Trump in the 2016 National Review edition.  Noting how Republicans were anxious to reverse the policies of the previous administration, Bozell noted, “But ah the rub.  Trump might be the greatest charlatan of them all.

Citing Reagan, Bozell,” wrote, “A real conservative walks with us,” speaking to conservative organizations. “Trump has done none of these things.”

In an October 2029 New York Times piece that looked back at what Never Trumpers had to say in the National Review edition, Bozell conceded, “Had I known this was going to be perceived at the bible of the anti-Trump movement, I never would have written it. He revealed that he now counts himself as a Trump convert.

Katie Pavlich

Katie Pavlich, editor of Townhall.com and regular guest on Fox, had perhaps the softest view of Trump in the infamous National Review edition, concentrating primarily on her belief that he wasn’t a true conservative. “Trump’s liberal positions aren’t in the distant past – he has openly promoted them on the campaign trail.

“Conservatives have a serious decision to make.  Do we truly believe in our long-held principles and insist that politicians have records demonstrating fealty to them?  In short, do our principles still matter?  A vote for Trump indicates the answer is ‘No.’”

Six months after Trump took office, however, Pavlich wrote an opinion piece for The Hill, “Trump’s best speech.”  Noting how “his rough-edged style has roiled commentators and professional politicos inside the Beltway for years,” she remarked how he was “being cheered by his supporters across the country.”

In his speech, to a room full of Cuban dissidents in Miami, Trump announced an end to many of the Obama administration’s normalization policies with Cuba.

Keeping in mind that opinions can evolve over time, Pavlich’s views on Trump have been multifaceted, reflecting the complex and often polarized political landscape.

Vowing to expose the crimes of the Castro regime, Trump said, “my administration will not hide from it, excuse it, or glamorize it.  And we will never, ever be blind to it.”

Other assorted views

David French, a left-leaning columnist, wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times earlier this year, “Never-Trumpers Never Had a Chance,” in which he noted, “Since the moment Trump took the GOP primary lead in 2015, he never relinquished his hold on the party.”

Writing about the attempt by Democrats to break Trump’s grip on the party, mostly of which failed, he said, “it’s now clear to me that we never had a chance.  And the reason is equally clear: We did not truly understand our own party.

“I wasn’t just wrong; I was completely, embarrassingly wrong.  If animosity toward Democrats was the primary Republican value, even more than ideology or character, you can see how Never-Trumpers were destined to fail.

“I don’t regret my arguments against Trump. I’d make them again and I will continue making them.  I do ask myself how I missed the sheer extent of Republican anger.“

Curiously, French said, “I’m deeply, deeply grieved by the thought that I did anything in my life before Trump to contribute to that unrighteous rage.” 

As a political wonk who used to be outraged by French’s defense of Obama and Biden policies and disdain for conservatism, I doubt it will not change his leftist mantra.

Space for this blog will not allow additional then and now opinions from the February 2015 edition of the National Review.  I have included the opinions of four of the 22 who contributed essays.  I may be sharing others with you before the elections.

LASTLY … I would be remiss if I didn’t wish my readers who are Mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

May God continue to bless the United States of America.