Updates
- Originally published, January 14, 8:09 am.
- January 14, 12:47 pm:
- Republicans are indeed worried about the midterm elections later this year.[1] (Donald Trump)
- January 14, 1:57 pm:
- January 15, 11:53 am:
- January 15, 7:53 pm:
Shithole
It’s weird that people in the room don’t remember Trump using that word when Trump himself was calling friends to brag about it afterwards. I spoke to one of those friends. The President thought it would play well with the base.
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 14, 2018
White House official told me tonight there is debate internally on whether Trump said "shithole" or "shithouse." Perdue and Cotton seem to have heard latter, this person said, and are using to deny.
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 15, 2018
Let’s just say that he said it, okay? ‘Cause near as I can tell, the only ones denying it are the ones with a vested interest in doing so.
Jacqueline Thomsen, “Pastor condemned Trump’s ‘s—hole’ in service Pence attended: report,” Hill, January 15, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/369068-pastor-condemned-trumps-shithole-countries-comments-while-pence
Donald Trump
Bill Kristol, in particular, has been catching my attention lately for comments that do not seem neoconservative. For example,
The GOP tax bill’s bringing out my inner socialist. The sex scandals are bringing out my inner feminist. Donald Trump and Roy Moore are bringing out my inner liberal.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 21, 2017
Vox’s Jane Coaston interviewed him on the matter and he does say he’s doing some rethinking.[3] But what we’re seeing here, if you read these articles and following the links is that the division among evangelicals over the likes of Donald Trump and Roy Moore[4] extends well beyond social conservatism—and #NeverTrump is very much still alive.
So the question I’ve been watching is, at what point do Republicans realize that Trump carries too high a cost, that he poses too great a risk in the elections later this year,[5] that they could make better progress on their precious agenda with a President Mike Pence? We aren’t really seeing movement here in terms of tendencies of conservatism. The same tendencies that have always stridently supported Trump—authoritarian populists and paleoconservatives—still do but are increasingly on the defensive. (Local note here: In Sebastopol, the weekly protest held at noon on Fridays featured both the Left and an authoritarian populist counter-protest until recently. The latter has disappeared.) The only tendency—neoconservatism—that stridently and pretty consistently opposed Trump still does. Capitalist libertarians are liking deregulation and the tax cut; they’re edging toward Trump but are still fundamentally opposed to his “protectionist” and “crony capitalist” positions. But within the other tendencies that have been wishy-washy—social conservatism, functionalist conservatism, and traditionalist conservatism—voices opposing Trump are getting louder and more insistent. And Trump’s shit is hitting the fan with breathtaking speed, supporting his opposition, and weakening his support.
Jane Coaston, “Bill Kristol thinks ‘people are just too unhappy with the status quo,’” Vox, January 10, 2018, https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/1/10/16865502/bill-kristol-trump-status-quo?__twitter_impression=true
Jonah Goldberg, “Authentic Asininity,” National Review, January 12, 2018, http://www.nationalreview.com/g-file/455420/trump-shithole-comments-authenticity-misunderstanding
Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, and Sean Sullivan, “New alarm among Republicans that Democrats could win big this year,” Washington Post, January 14, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/new-alarm-among-republicans-that-democrats-could-win-big-this-year/2018/01/13/9be31acc-f8a8-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html
- [1]Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, and Sean Sullivan, “New alarm among Republicans that Democrats could win big this year,” Washington Post, January 14, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/new-alarm-among-republicans-that-democrats-could-win-big-this-year/2018/01/13/9be31acc-f8a8-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html↩
- [2]Jacqueline Thomsen, “Pastor condemned Trump’s ‘s—hole’ in service Pence attended: report,” Hill, January 15, 2018, http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/369068-pastor-condemned-trumps-shithole-countries-comments-while-pence↩
- [3]Jane Coaston, “Bill Kristol thinks ‘people are just too unhappy with the status quo,’” Vox, January 10, 2018, https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2018/1/10/16865502/bill-kristol-trump-status-quo?__twitter_impression=true↩
- [4]Bill Berkowitz, “Are Right-Wing Evangelicals True Christians or Just Another White Identity Cult?” Truthout, March 4, 2016, http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/are-evangelicals-true-christians-or-just-another-white-identity-cult; Rod Dreher, “An Evangelical Crack-Up?” American Conservative, December 15, 2017, http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/an-evangelical-crack-up/; Mark Galli, “The Biggest Loser in the Alabama Election,” Christianity Today, December 12, 2017, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/december-web-only/roy-moore-doug-jones-alabama-editorial.html; David Goldstein, “Evangelicals have qualms with Trump, but see nowhere else to turn,” McClatchy, June 10, 2016, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article82901192.html?rh=1; Bethania Palma Markus, “Christian leader: Trump reveals that progressives were right about evangelicals all along,” Raw Story, March 1, 2016, http://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/christian-leader-trump-reveals-that-progressives-were-right-about-evangelicals-all-along/; Russell Moore, “Why this election makes me hate the word ‘evangelical,’” Washington Post, February 29, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/02/29/russell-moore-why-this-election-makes-me-hate-the-word-evangelical/; Napp Nazworth, “Conservative Evangelical Author Matt Lewis on Trump, Evangelicals and Stupid Republicans (Interview),” Christian Post, January 26, 2016, http://www.christianpost.com/news/conservative-evangelical-author-matt-lewis-donald-trump-evangelicals-stupid-republicans-155688/; Ray Nothstine, “Who Are the Evangelicals Supporting Donald Trump?” Christian Post, August 30, 2015, http://www.christianpost.com/news/who-are-the-evangelicals-supporting-donald-trump-143997/; Julie Zauzmer and Sarah Pulliam Baile, “After Trump and Moore, some evangelicals are finding their own label too toxic to use,” Washington Post, December 14, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/after-trump-and-moore-some-evangelicals-are-finding-their-own-label-too-toxic-to-use/2017/12/14/b034034c-e020-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html↩
- [5]Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, and Sean Sullivan, “New alarm among Republicans that Democrats could win big this year,” Washington Post, January 14, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/new-alarm-among-republicans-that-democrats-could-win-big-this-year/2018/01/13/9be31acc-f8a8-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html↩