From ‘Never Trump’ To An ‘Encore’ Please
Many of our friends are MAGA Republicans who voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and plan to do so again come November of 2024.
Some of our long-time friends are died-in-the-wool Democrats, so when we get together we avoid talking politics.
To our surprise, a few of them have admitted lately that Biden administration policies are harming America, especially so for people on fixed incomes. Consequently, I was intrigued when I came across this recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.
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I called for President Trump’s impeachment in 2019. I stand by what I said then. But if Mr. Trump is the Republican nominee, I will vote for him in November.
Like many voters in 2020, I hoped Joe Biden would govern reasonably from the center. Instead, his administration has sought the furthest reaches of leftist ideology. What were once fringe progressive talking points have become national policy. Even the military has been infected with a divisive and unyielding woke doctrine. The economic landscape has been equally distressing: inflation, coupled with a ballooning national debt and deficit. Four more years of this means a bleak future for my children.
My work in financial regulation and cryptocurrency has shown me the havoc wrought by policies seemingly chosen not to foster economic growth but to appease the likes of Elizabeth Warren, who has enjoyed outsize influence over Mr. Biden’s nominations. One nominee to run the leading banking regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, was an open member of Marxist groups and called for the Federal Reserve to provide retail bank accounts. It took a few brave Democrats to stop her nomination.
Before, I didn’t embrace the rallying cry of “Build the wall.” Yet the crisis at our border compels me to acknowledge that Mr. Trump was right. The border situation underlines a broader reality—we need practical policies, not politically expedient ones. Mr. Trump doesn’t care about the niceties of political discourse, and that is an asset.
I find myself parting ways with the Never Trump faction. I respect its stance, which was born of conviction. Yet our situation demands a re-evaluation. We can continue down a path that has led to division and economic stagnation, or pivot to a future that, while imperfect, promises governance rooted in traditional American values, economic liberty, and a judiciary cut from the same cloth as the gifted nominees confirmed to the Supreme Court under Mr. Trump.
Count me as a former Never Trumper. Given the coming election, the Never Trump position is naive. No third-party candidate can win and heal America. It’s time to pick a side, and Mr. Trump is the only alternative to Mr. Biden’s hyperprogressive vision for America. This isn’t a repudiation of my past convictions but an acknowledgment that the future we face demands difficult choices.
I hope that the best parts of Mr. Trump’s administration—including the reasonable leaders tapped to head government agencies—get a second round. I hope the mistakes of the past won’t be repeated. And I hope for a future in which the federal government’s power is restrained, making the presidential election less important in our daily lives.
Mr. Verret is an associate professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School.