New York Times Columnist Bret Stevens appears to be abandoning the “Never Trump” identity he embraced during the first Trump era, realizing he and his media colleagues missed the mark after the 2024 election.
“It's been more than nine years since I first denounced Donald Trump as a 'loud vulgar who appeals to the quieter vulgar.' I've described myself as a never-Trump conservative ever since, and even while I agreed with his policies from time to time, I disagreed with him. Also throughout his candidacy this year.” He began his column, “It's never over with Trump” Tuesday.
“Could his second term be as bad as his harshest critics fear? Yes. Is it time to abandon the heavy-handed moralizing and constant forecasting that has characterized much of the No Trump movement — and which has left it politically impotent and often obtuse? Yes, please.” ” I confess.
New York Times columnist Bret Stevens said he was “done with No Trump” after being an outspoken critic of President-elect Donald Trump for nearly a decade. (Screenshot/HBO)
Stevens acknowledged that Trump's “deep disdain” for the political elite, his “refusal to bow to their standards” and his “willingness to denounce their hypocrisy” make him a “hero” in the eyes of his supporters, something he and others have never done. Trump's supporters “never get the point.”
“It was not that we had forgotten about the Clinton scandals or that we were ignorant of the allegations about the Bidens. It was that we believed that Trump debased the values that conservatives were supposed to stand for. We also believed that Trump represented a form of illiberalism that was contradictory,” Stevens wrote. This, combined with our conservative slogan of “Free People, Free Markets, Free World,” was bound to lead the Republican Party down a dark path.”
“We're not wrong about this: There's a lot to dislike and fear about Trump from a traditionally conservative standpoint. But Trump's supporters haven't overstated our case either, and in doing so they've defeated our target.”
Trump is stirring up a news storm, showing restraint in the press, even as he attacks the media
President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, December 16, 2024 in Palm Beach, Florida. (AFP/Evan Vucci)
The Times columnist went on to list several disclaimers, such as his failed prediction that Trump “might stumble into World War III” as president, how allegations of collusion with Russia “were just a smear” and that Trump was “tougher” with the Kremlin than Kremlin. The Obama and Biden administrations before the Ukraine war.
“We predicted that Trump’s rhetoric would destroy the GOP’s chances of winning in constituencies that the party identified, after 2012, as key to its future. But we missed that his appeal to the working class would also reach working-class minorities — like the working class.” “48% of Latino male voters cast their ballots for him last month,” Stevens told readers. “We were troubled by Trump's protectionist policies and big spending ways. But the economy mostly boomed under him, at least until the pandemic hit.”
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Stevens also admitted that he and other “elites” prioritized the issue of “democracy” while ordinary voters cared about inflation and the immigration crisis.
He asked, “Why did Trump – who was often denounced by his critics as a lucky fool – understand this so well while we continued to work in the spirit of the nation in vain?” Stephens asked himself.
“What else have we not appreciated enough? That, as much as Trump may lie, Americans also felt lied to by the left — especially when it came to the White House's cover-up of Biden's physical and mental decline. This is, as bigoted as it can be.” Being elements of the MAGA world, there is a lot of bigotry that could spread — not least in the torrent of Israel-bashing and anti-Semitism that emerged from the cultural left after October 7 and that, much as we fear Trump could “if he destroys some of our institutions, “Whether it’s higher education or the FBI, many of these institutions are already broken and may need to be redesigned or replaced.”
Stevens admitted that Trump's accusers “never understood the meaning” of the MAGA movement. (William P. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
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The longtime Trump critic has vowed to keep an open mind about… Trump's second presidencyand urged other Trump supporters to do the same.
“Let us go into the new year wishing the new administration well, by giving some members of Trump's cabinet the benefit of the doubt, by dropping outrageous historical comparisons with previous dictators, and by not appearing paranoid about the looming end of democracy,” Stevens said. “The best and we know that we need to fight the real mistakes and not just what we fear. Whatever happens, this too will pass.”
