The #NeverTrump Backlash: Jonah Goldberg “Run Out of National Review”

President Donald J. Trump, joined by First Lady Melania Trump, delivers remarks during the Governors’ Ball Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

At The Federalist, Christopher Bedford takes a swing at the Never Trump movement, rightly calling it a joke. Bedford takes a moment to remember just how badly the Never Trump crowd estimated their importance, with the result being a fierce backlash. One victim of his own Never Trump stand was Jonah Goldberg, who as Bedford notes was “run out of National Review by its readers.” Bedford writes (abridged):

The Never Trumpers are a joke…. They haven’t been correct on a thing in years, yet continue to earn their supper and an invitation to the party by wholeheartedly agreeing with their new patrons.

They predicted ruin when the president was nominated and doom when he was elected, all while his poll numbers have continued to tick upward. They prophesied the shattering of the Republican Party all while it has maintained near-historic discipline in the face of a unified Democrat-media assault.

They assumed the end of the economy because America reacted to unfair international trade practices, and terrible global disasters because Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords and killed Iran’s terrorist general.

Ineffective and alienated politicians like Sen. Mitt Romney are treated as brave heroes and media stars for buying into Democratic hysteria and hurting their Republican colleagues. Repentant conservatives like Max Boot and Jennifer Rubin are given Washington Post prominence in exchange for reversing all of their previous positions and toeing the line.

Jonah Goldberg, who was run out of National Review by its readers, and Steve Hayes, who ran The Weekly Standard on its road to ruin, are dubbed the bold new leaders of serious conservatives.

In what industry would this hubris survive except for media? Even in politics, a business filled with corrupt liars not even trying to deliver, its practitioners are held to task by elections. Not here. Unaccountable and self-satisfied, the club marches on, complete with back-handed back-slaps to the boys who carry its water.

Christopher Bedford is a senior editor at The Federalist, the vice chairman of Young Americans for Freedom, a board member at the National Journalism Center, and the author of The Art of the Donald.