When National Review unveiled its “Against Trump” issue on January 21, Jeb Bush celebrated the arrival of reinforcements. “Welcome to the fight, all. Trump is not a conservative,” he tweeted.
It was an odd sentiment. National Review writers have been among the most outspoken critics of Donald Trump. Last fall, Rich Lowry, the magazine’s editor, wrote along with senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru that Trump “would be a disastrous champion for conservatives.” Last summer, Charles Cooke wrote of the “Trump Virus.” Jonah Goldberg was criticizing the real estate mogul long before Trump announced his candidacy and has written enough about Trump to fill a small book. And Kevin Williamson has written a small book: The Case Against Trump. No one who has casually flipped through a National Review over the past several months or spent thirty seconds on its website would think to welcome the magazine to the fight against Trump.
