The Buckley List
A Number of Conservative Betrayals This Election Aided the Rise of Trump. We Are Naming Names.
What follows is a listing*, though by no means complete, of conservative or right of center, thinkers, writers, politicians, talking heads, reporters and personalities who have turned on Conservatism this election cycle to support Donald Trump in one way or another. We believe these persons have done irreparable damage to the cause of principle based conservatism and minimalist government and rendered their opinions on the subject of conservatism null & void; we counsel the public to consume their future statements on conservatism with a severe degree of suspicion and view the motive as entertainment, profit-based or based in another personal agenda in conflict with conservative ideals. Our group’s namesake once took a stand against groups who posed a threat to conservatism.
Here we stand; we cannot do otherwise.
Signed,
* This list will be updated and we welcome new additions with evidence of their Trump support. Please tweet suggestions (with links) to @TheBuckleyClub on Twitter and tag it #TheBuckleyList.
The Turncoats
Sean Hannity: Hannity, who once wrote this:
“At heart, American conservatives like myself are believers in the Constitution. We believe that the principles embodied in the Constitution are enduring, and that to whatever extent we deviate from them we put our liberties at risk. Our views are consistent because we believe in absolute truths and the essential soundness, even righteousness, of the Founder’s vision of government.”
Has gone all in for Donald Trump, a man whose liberal ideology and leanings and lack of respect for the Constitution are all too well known now. He has even begun to sound like The Donald on Twitter:
It’s “you’re”, Sean. And you’re out.
Michelle Malkin: Michelle Malkin has been an immigration hawk for her entire career, but when it came to this election, she decided that particular issue overrode any other considerations, even endorsing Trump over a bona fide conservative like Marco Rubio. It appears Trump’s former positions on single payer healthcare, gun control, and being staunchly pro abortion did not bother her as much.
Ann Coulter: What has happened to Ann Coulter, who was once outrageous for a point besides her own gain (we can only assume), is truly sad. The same person who endorsed Chris Christie and Mitt Romney decided, in a field full of conservative candidate choices, that Donald Trump would sell her book. We refuse to link to her or provide her with any further attention whatsoever.
Chris Christie: After submarining Marco Rubio in the New Hampshire primary debate, Chris Christie went on to endorse Donald Trump, a man he once described as a “carnival barker” likely in hopes that he would play a role in the Trump Administration.
Ben Carson: Dr. Ben Carson, the conservative neurosurgeon and candidate who ran on healing a nation, endorsed Donald Trump because he was offered a position in his administration.
Jeff Sessions: Sessions, an immigration hawk and otherwise respected conservative politician, endorsed Donald Trump even though Ted Cruz’s immigration plan is all but indistinguishable from Trump’s.
Laura Ingraham: A conservative radio host and TV personality, has defended Donald Trump at every opportunity.
Lou Dobbs: Dobbs, host of Fox Business’ show Lou Dobbs Tonight, was enthusiastic about Trump from the start. Back in July 2015, he proclaimed that Trump was waking the country up about the issue of illegal immigration. More recently, he has taken to full-on Trump activism on Twitter, including the use of the Trump slogan hashtag, #MakeAmericaGreatAgain.
Breitbart News: Breitbart news has been so in the tank for Donald Trump that a Twitter account has sprung up parodying its coverage. Recently a number of personnel have left over objections to its coverage , including its former spokesperson. The website has even refused to defend its own reporter who was physically roughed by a Trump campaign manager. Andrew Breitbart would have opposed all of this.
Newt Gingrich: He engineered the Republican congressional takeover of Congress and the conservative revolution of 1994. He has all but endorsed Donald Trump.
Eric Bolling: Another Fox News host who has embraced Trump and blamed this on the Establishment.
Wayne Dupree: A conservative blogger and radio host who is a yuge Donald Trump booster. See: his TL on Twitter not linked here.
For a full list of the assorted two-bit politicians and tabloid rags that have given Donald Trump a formal endorsement, please see: wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Donald_Trump_presidential_campaign_endorsements,_2016
The Apologists
This group did not endorse Trump, but often acted as apologists for him to an extent that it was indistinguishable from support.
Andrea Tantaros: Is a Fox News personality and commentator who has prominently defended Trump, sometimes in unusual ways.
Rush Limbaugh: Compare the way Rush Limbaugh covered Pat Buchanan in 1996 vs. his coverage of a similarly populist Donald Trump now. Rather than use his immense platform to denounce Trump and help crush him before he gained momentum, Limbaugh took a different tack.
Mark Levin: Levin has since endorsed Ted Cruz, but for many months was an exuberant Trump apologist and booster as a means to attack the Establishment.
Joe Scarborough: Scarborough and his co-host have used their MSNBC platform to boost Trump. Sometimes the support came through being easier on him than other candidates.
Greta Van Susteren: Van Susteren took a swipe at the National Review “Against Trump” symposium, tweeting about Trump’s poll numbers in her effort to defend him. She also brushed off the controversy involving Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who allegedly grabbed the arm of Michelle Fields, a former Breitbart journalist. “It is a flap we should all get over,” Van Susteren said.
The Enablers
These are the personalities, writers and politicians who decided Trump could be useful for grinding one of their axes but who did not necessarily approve of him per se. All of their winks, apologies and pulled punches for Trump helped legitimize him nonetheless.
Bill O’Reilly: We watched as Bill O’Reilly let a Dallas pastor uncritically praise Trump for his current anti-abortion stance without ever questioning Trump’s past support of abortion, including third trimester abortions. He also did not defend a colleague of his against Trump’s vicious personal attacks.
Ace of Spades: Ace has since rescinded his Donald Trump support. But for much of the election season, he embraced Donald Trump and apologized for him for use as a tool against the Establishment he has come to despise.
Instapundit: Glenn Reynolds is an avowed libertarian, and he often uses his Twitter account and website to give voice to people he feels have grievances against the Establishment, the Media, etc. who are not being heard. He would often retweet anti-abortion tweets during the Planned Parenthood kerfuffle despite his own personal support of abortion. However, we draw the line at retweeting renowned White Nationalists Twitter accounts, who also support Trump, for months on end and legitimizing white identity politics. We will not link to these accounts.
Byron York at the Washington Examiner is another one who has been laudatory of Trump and should know better. He’s also taken the stance that Trump’s plurality of the vote has entitled him to the nomination.
Ted Cruz: Cruz is a bona fide conservative, but for months of the campaign he praised Donald Trump, validating him. He even organized joint engagements with him. The entire Republican field can be criticized for not doing enough to speak out against Donald Trump until it was too late, but Cruz took it a step further and embraced him in hopes of securing Trumps’ supporters when Trump inevitably imploded. It backfired.
CNN, Fox News and rest of Media: Two billion dollars.
The RNC: The Republican National Committee has gone out of its way to be neutral towards Trump (despite the headline here, the Pledge works both ways). While we’re sympathetic to the situation it finds itself in, the RNC may find that Trump is its own final undoing. It should have done more even if it risked a Trump third party run. This includes an implied criticism of all those who signed the Pledge.
The Buckley Awards: The Good Guys
This is not an exhaustive list. Many conservatives have stood against Trump as the #NeverTrump movement has evidenced. But these were the people with the most to lose who stood athwart history yelling, “Stop!” They all deserve our due respect and plaudits.
Glenn Beck: Say what you will of Beck, he has been as staunchly anti-Trump as any Radio personality.
Dana Loesch: Loesch has ably used every medium to oppose Trump. She wrote a well-researched polemic against him and has been a staunch Cruz supporter.
National Review: Bravo. Too many to list but all who contributed here and the entire NR staff.
Red State: Red State similarly has been a friend to conservatism and very critical of Donald Trump. They even dis-invited him from one of their gatherings.
We’ve deleted an entry here. For a note why, see here.
Mitt Romney: Romney, who was criticized for not throwing enough sharp elbows as a candidate, has very publicly criticized Donald Trump.
Ben Sasse: The Senator from Nebraska, despite the neutrality of most other elected Republicans due to the RNC pledge policy, has been very critical of Trump. He also was one of the first and only elected Republicans to say he would not support Trump if he were the nominee.
Bill Kristol: Kristol and The Weekly Standard have also been outspoken opponents to Trump, even going to far as to urge a Third Party candidate should Trump be the Republican nominee.
Scott Walker: Governor Walker in his concession speech closing out his primary run encouraged the Republican Party to coalesce around an alternative to Trump.
Noah Rothman- Rothman and Commentary mag have opposed the Trump phenomenon from the beginning, consistently and in full-throated fashion.
Free Beacon: With one notable exception, the Free Beacon has also opposed Trump, in their own style of course.
