Trump Fans, It’s Time for An Intervention

There have been times in the past when I’ve gotten crosswise with certain segments of the conservative base and/or with the readership of National Review. And, because, like the Elephant Man, I am a not an animal but a human being, I have always had at least some self-doubt. That’s as it should be. People who share principles should not only hear each other out when they disagree; they should be able to see each other’s points and hold open the possibility that one’s opponents have the better argument.

I truly, honestly, and with all my heart and mind think Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters are making a yuuuuuuge mistake. I think they are being conned and played. I feel like a guy whose brother is being taken advantage of by a grifter. I’m watching helplessly as the con artist congratulates him for taking out a third mortgage.

Now, before I go on, let me clarify a few things. I get it. The base of the party is angry. They’re angry about Obama’s lawless chicanery on immigration. They’re angry about the GOP’s patented inability to cross the street without stepping on its own d*ck and then having to apologize for it. They’re angry that the Left’s culture warriors are behaving like an invading army that shoots the survivors even after they’ve surrendered. They’re angry that Republicans have to bend over backward so as not to offend anyone, while Democrats have free rein (and at times free reign) to do and to say as they please.

Enter Trump, stage left. He makes no apologies. He’s brash. I can understand why some see him as a breath of fresh air. If you want to give him credit for starting a worthwhile debate about sanctuary cities and illegal immigration, fine. I think that argument is way overdone, but certainly reasonable enough.

Trump supporters need an intervention. I want to sit them down at the kitchen table, reach into a manila envelope, and pull out the proof that he’s a fraud.

Maybe you just like him. On that, we can respectfully disagree, as there is no accounting for taste. Perhaps you just like his musk and the way it assaults your nostrils, which is fitting, given his line of cologne. Fine.

I, on the other hand, find him tedious, tacky, and trite. He’s a bore who overcompensates for his insecurities by talking about how awesome he is, often in the third person. Jonah can’t stand that.

You see the next Teddy Roosevelt and all I see is someone who talks big and carries a small schtick.

In words George Will shall never write, this is a good moment to talk about my pants. Earlier this week, Donald Trump attacked Charles Krauthammer and me. By the way, I don’t blame Trump one bit for his hostility. I’d hate me too, if I were him. Still I do marvel at how this supposed Master of the Universe can be unnerved by such criticism. If it takes so little effort for me to set up shop in his head, by all means, let’s give him thermonuclear weapons.

I’m worth a fortune. . . . I went out, I made a fortune, a big fortune, a tremendous fortune . . . bigger than people even understand. . . . Then I get called [a failure] by a guy that can’t buy a pair of pants, I get called names?

As the intern said to Bill Clinton, this puts me in a weird position. I don’t like to brag, but I’m actually quite adept at buying pants. I don’t enjoy it. But I can do it. It never occurred to me to put it in my bio or anything — “Jonah Goldberg is a senior editor of National Review, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and a successful pants-buyer” — but maybe I should.

Now, I will say that I sometimes choose not to wear pants, and not just because I’m so fond of my spaghetti-strainer codpiece (which affords me the satisfaction of telling really attractive women, “Hey, my eyes are up here. Thank you very much”). But these are my choices. If I want to identify as a pantless American, who are you to say otherwise?

More to the point, what I find so gaudy about Trump is his constant reference to the fact that he made a lot of money, and his expectation that it somehow makes him immune to criticism or means that he’s a better person than his GOP competitors, never mind yours truly.

Moreover, I find it horribly disappointing that his fans like this about him. If you met someone in real life who talked this way, you would think he’s a jerk. But somehow he’s awesome when he does it on TV?

The most troubling defense is this claptrap that he ‘tells it like it is.’ Well, first of all, no he doesn’t. He tells it the way you want to hear it, which is an entirely different thing.

His biggest fans disappoint in other ways as well. I marvel at how they can simultaneously despise Obama’s arrogance but revel in Trump’s. (I chuckle at all of the people who tell me he’s a heroic truth-teller for “telling it like it is” and “calling it as he sees it” but who at the same time fume at me when I tell it like it is about Trump and call it as I see it.)

But most grating of all are the people who sincerely think he should be the Republican nominee for President of the United States.

On this, I’m afraid we’re going to have to disrespectfully disagree. First of all, he’ll never be president of the United States. I won’t go into all of the reasons I think this, but a few off the top of my head: his enormous negatives, even among Republicans; the Midas’s hoard of oppo-research material that surely lurks beneath the surface; and his comments about women, which alone would turn the gender gap into a chasm. To borrow a line from Mark Steyn, a President Trump would have more ex-wives than the previous 44 presidents combined.

But my objection isn’t to the political analysis of Trump supporters. It’s their judgment of the man that stews the bowels.

I’ve written many times about how I hate the term RINO because conservatives should consider themselves Republicans in Name Only. The Republican Party is a vessel, a tool for achieving conservative ends. It’s nothing more than a team. Conservatism is different. It’s a body of ideas, beliefs, and temperaments. The amazing thing is that Trump is both a RINO and a CINO. I’m sure he has some authentic and sincere conservative views down in there somewhere. But the idea that he’s more plausibly conservative — or more loyally Republican — than Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Scott Walker, or any of the others is just flatly absurd. It is vastly more plausible that he is a stalking horse for his dear friend Hillary Clinton than he is a sincere conservative.

Trump supporters need an intervention. I want to sit them down at the kitchen table, reach into a manila envelope, and pull out the proof that he’s a fraud. The conversation would go something like this:

Immigration: You seem to think he’s an immigration hardliner, and he’s certainly pretending to be. But why can’t you see through it? He condemned Mitt Romney as an immigration hardliner in 2012 and favored comprehensive immigration reform. He told Bill O’Reilly he was in favor of a “path to citizenship” for 30 million illegal immigrants:

Trump: You have to give them a path. You have 20 million, 30 million, nobody knows what it is. It used to be 11 million. Now, today I hear it’s 11, but I don’t think it’s 11. I actually heard you probably have 30 million. You have to give them a path, and you have to make it possible for them to succeed. You have to do that.

Question: Just how many rapists and drug dealers did Donald Trump want to give green cards to?

Abortion: In 1999 he said, “I’m totally pro-choice. I hate it and I hate saying it. And I’m almost ashamed to say that I’m pro-choice but I am pro-choice because I think we have no choice.”

Now he says he’s pro-life. But I’ll spare the mocking on this because at least he’s flip-flopping in the right direction, and I don’t like to second guess peoples’ professed religious convictions.

Obamacare: The man wrote in his own book and said elsewhere that he was in favor of Canadian-style socialized medicine — which would put him to the left of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, and on pretty much the same page as Bernie Sanders.

Hillary: Speaking of her, Trump praised Hillary Clinton and her health-care reform plan — in 2007! She attended his (most recent) wedding. He donated to her campaigns and to the Clinton Foundation. In 2008, he couldn’t get his head around the fact that Obama didn’t pick her for VP. “I’m a big fan of Hillary. She’s a terrific woman. She’s a friend of mine.”

Economics: People tout the guy’s business record. But he represents almost exactly what his supporters think he opposes. He’s a crony capitalist par excellence. He gives to whatever politician can grease the skids for his next deal — and he makes no apologies for it. He’s an eminent-domain voluptuary. He abuses bankruptcy laws like a stack of homemade get-out-of-jail-free cards.

The most troubling defense is this claptrap that he “tells it like it is.” Well, first of all, no he doesn’t. He tells it the way you want to hear it, which is an entirely different thing. He is like William Jennings Bryan, only his cross of gold has an all-you-can-eat buffet under it, and looks remarkably like a capital “T.”

He is like William Jennings Bryan, only his cross of gold has an all-you-can-eat buffet under it, and looks remarkably like a capital “T.”

“The people of Nebraska are for free silver, and I am for free silver,” Bryan announced. “I will look up the arguments later.” That is Trump’s approach. He’s saying what understandably angry people want to hear him say.

He reminds me a lot of Mitt Romney, at least in one respect. I always said that Romney “spoke conservatism as a second language” (a line some people ripped off, btw). That’s why Romney called himself a “severe conservative,” talked about how he “likes to fire people,” and anathematized the “47 percent.”

Trump is even less truly conservative, but he’s trying to speak in an even grubbier dialect of conservatism. And, having grown up in the tabloid politics of New York, he’s better at faking it.

Eventually, I suspect, this will be the cause of his undoing. He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know about conservatism, and at some point he will say something that even his biggest fans will recognize as a damning revelation about the real man beneath the schtick. The only question is whether he implodes before or after he does permanent damage to the GOP’s chances in 2016.

Look, these are rough times for conservatives, for reasons too lengthy, and all too familiar, to go into here. But none of our problems — demographic, political, cultural — can be solved unless conservatives take the cause of persuasion to heart. All of our problems can be fixed by convincing people to join our cause. That is what politics is about — persuading people that their interests and concerns are better addressed by coming to our side. And, given the degraded nature of our culture, I won’t deny that having a celebrity on our side has its utility. But it’s only helpful if that celebrity convinces people to switch sides. As a purely mathematical proposition, it is insane to believe that Donald Trump will convert more voters than he will repel.

For those who are interested in persuasion, I heartily recommend Arthur Brooks’s new book, The Conservative Heart (full disclosure: He’s my boss at AEI and a friend). I’ll be writing more about it in the future because I think it’s an important book. But I will say for now that it is almost a mirror image of Trump’s approach. It’s thoughtful, humble, fact- and data-driven, and informed by a deep moral case for conservatism. It won’t satisfy your desire to scream at the opposition, but it will equip you to explain to the opposition why they are wrong............

“If Jeb got the nomination and Trump ran third party, would you vote for Trump? I would.”

Assuming that Trump sounds the same as 3rd Party, I suspect that most people here would vote for him...I certainly would.

Bottom line is that JEB CANNOT WIN. He’ll either be defeated by Trump in the Primaries, or he’ll be defeated by Trump in November, 2016.

And Jeb has himself and the baggage his party has put on him to blame...it is NOT Trump’s or anyone else’s fault. The 2016 Presidential election ENDED FOR BUSH the moment that Trump got traction. He’s a walking zombie at this point.

“To push the GOP’s Jebby to the convention and another hold your nose at the polls next year...”

NOPE, not happening again, not with people on this site, and millions of other conservatives - we will either sit it out or find a 3rd Party to vote for.

The GOP bosses have jumped the shark with Jebby...he’s not going to win, since he won’t be any better than Hillary, in any case.

If Trump does nothing else at least he’s gotten some attention focused upon the
upcoming GOP primary.

The first debate is schedule for August 6, 2015 or 21 days hence. Three weeks out and
Trump has center stage at this point. Imo as time goes on that will change and others
will take some time up front.

The following debate after Fox is on Sept 16, 2015 or 41 days later. During that
time it will be interesting to follow the ups and downs of the candidates.

Over 460 candidates have filed the FEC Form 2 as a presidential candidate for
the 2016 election. Most have no chance but a few will drive the public discourse.

....FEC Form 2 candidate filers ....
http://www.fec.gov/press/resources/2016presidential_form2dt.shtml

Count me as another that is enjoying Trump's mouth but I would never vote for him.
Consider this: Trump has got people talking about illegals. He's got the spotlight on one of our most severe problems. When I see the idiots from the view (as highlighted on FNC) spout off, "But how do they get back in??" I realize just how much illegal immigration has been swept under the rug.

If Trump can bring about a change to the conversation, then, I say, let's ride it for awhile.

Has it occurred to you that if Trump is the only one who will even talk about illegal immigration, that he is also the only one who would actually do something about it?

You have quite a contradictory tangle going there. Or maybe all you really wanted was a little conversation about "one of our most severe problems", but nothing actually done to address one our most severe problems.

And there are many more like you.

Did you see Trump on Hannity calling Jebby a disaster over and over again and Hillary too.

Trump was on a roll and he took no prisoners.

I can just imagine the weasel Roves head exploding after his appearance.

That village idiot Over The RNC must be drinking heavily with Trump telling the truth about there K street appointed moron .

Baloney! I used to live 40 miles from the largest border crossing in CA. You know, the one where all the tunnels are found! I was a huge supporter of Duncan Hunter and his fence.

I'm glad Trump has brought the conversation to a boiling point. However, I believe that Cruz will actually do something about it. He was saying the same things but being ignored by the media. Trump is the summer flavor of the month. I think he will fizzle out, much like Newt, before the primaries are over, no matter how much I'm enjoying the show right now.

Nope, but not surprised. This is getting interesting...Cruz seems to be the only Republican candidate WITH A BRAIN when it comes to Trump.

If Trump is driven from the party during the Primaries, he may very well run as 3rd Party. EVERY REPUBLICAN running should have thought about that - so far, only Cruz seems to be capable of it. If Trump runs 3rd Party, Jeb simply loses - there is NO WAY Jeb will be able to defeat both Hillary and Trump, and Jeb will very likely place third. The only REAL QUESTION will be whether Trump can defeat Hillary in a 3 man race.

This is getting fun, now.

If what you say is true, that many conservatives are so easily misled by Trump’s message, doesn’t that really reflect how sh&tty the rest of the field must be? According to you Trump can just March in with a totally contrived message and completely suck the air out of the room leaving real so called candidates in his dust. If that really IS the case, then it simply means that none of the other candidates reflect the feelings of the base anyway....making them completely unelectable.

The Republican Party has crapped all over its base for the past 25+ years and a huge number within that base have come to the conclusion that there isn’t a dimes worth of difference between a (D) or an (R). Professional politicians have destroyed this country and the anger they have created has opened the door for any non-politician candidate that is willing to express that frustration. The fact that Trump is arrogant, brash, untrustworthy, etc is irrelevant as the only thing that matters to them is that he seems to feel our frustration with party leadership and direction of the country and he’s willing to incur a whole lot of abuse just to express it.

Generally I like Jonah Goldberg but he and the rest of the establishment pundits are wedded to the theory of career politicians. They can no more divorce themselves from that premise than a cat can stop stalking birds.

The original intent of the founding fathers was for our elected leaders to be citizen servants. Come to office for a period of time and then go back to their regular life. As did Washington and Jefferson etc.

Over time the career politician evolved into what we see today and that is IMO the root of the dilemma we face today. Elected representatives who have never done anything else in their lives except graduate law school and go into politics or government as a career

This politician class and their fellow travelers like Jonah Goldberg, Rich Lowery, Charles Krauthammer, George Will etc, etc have a vested interest in keeping the circle unbroken.

Now comes Donald Trump successful businessman, writer and TV celebrity. This is a person who is on a first name basis with the world leaders that the other GOP candidates struggle to name. This person Donald Trump has every credential to be President except for the single missing item from his resume’. He is not a career politician and he has not been schooled in the art of the political deal. He doesn’t know you are supposed to tread carefully lest you misstep and bring any type of disapproval upon yourself from your own or others. He isn’t interested in securing himself a permanent seat at the table of the uniparty and that makes him dangerous to both sides of the equation.

So Donald Trump must be smeared, scorned, vilified and basically run off the road.

I'm glad Trump has brought the conversation to a boiling point. However, I believe that Cruz will actually do something about it. He was saying the same things but being ignored by the media.

Trump and Cruz are the only two candidates I'd vote for in this field. But Cruz is mostly echoing what Trump is saying and Cruz did not make any strong point about addressing illegal immigration and building an actual border wall in the weeks before Trump declared.

Ted's been very dodgy on illegal immigration overall, and his "streamlining legal immigration" sounds like allow so many to immigrate legally that few will have to come illegally.

Ted's having trouble gaining traction and needs to do something to gain enough support to be sure he is in the first debate with the top candidates.

Goldbrick and his ilk are shills for a paralyzed, palsied, pathetic Republican establishment class that is mostly motivated by a desire to preserve a privileged position in a socialist tsunami which they refused to do anything meaningful about.

For some time, the US has been subjected to an invasion of illegal aliens that neither political party has done anything about. The Democrats have done nothing because it benefits them by creating a whole new group of voters for them to bribe with free stuff, making sure they will have the ability to control the government. The Republicans have done nothing about it because it benefits certain people by driving down the cost of labor, and because to some extent, they believe (wrongly) that they can exploit this new source of votes.

Trump is right to reveal this unfortunate and evil state of affairs. Trump’s solution to this problem is the correct one. And to be honest, it is an awesome thing to see someone speak the truth about this matter. All we conservatives get from the GOP-e is a wad of mealy-mouthed BS about ‘nuance’ and ‘pragmatism’ and other drivel from the mouths of politicians coached to say those things by professional homosexual consultants. Which brings up this- what does the GOP stand for at this point? Opposition to Obamacare? Opposition to same-sex marriage? Opposition to illegal immigration? Opposition to sellout trade deals? It should be obvious at this point that the Republican party has mostly played the role of lesser Democrats on these points. If it takes a Trump candidacy at this point to force the Republicans into real opposition, so be it.

Also, it is good to see the Myth Romneys, Bushes and their ilk squirm, and try to equivocate, and still stand for nothing. Thank you for that, Donald Trump. Granted, he’s got some credibility issues. At this point, while I tend to favor Ted Cruz, I would not rule out voting for Trump. Especially if that makes some moderate nervous or fearful.

I think Jonah is missing the boat, or he's one of 'them'...How could Trump be conning us when all he is doing is confirming those things we already know...

No body likes Trump...No one wants Trump to be President...But we do want a President with the ideas that Trump puts forth...And right now, Trump is the mouthpiece...And what a mouthpiece...

The fact that Trump is arrogant, brash, untrustworthy, etc is irrelevant as the only thing that matters to them is that he seems to feel our frustration with party leadership and direction of the country and he’s willing to incur a whole lot of abuse just to express it.

In the first part of this quoted statement is where you sort of make my point. Where is the conservative intellect being applied to Trump as a candidate? He was against conservative principles before he was for them...if he is really for them?

He is saying what you want to hear. The base has been saying this same stuff for a long time. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to falsely adopt the rhetoric.

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