At 10 p.m. on Thursday, National Review magazine declared war on the Republican candidate it called a sell-out to the party’s conservative principles.
Throughout the day, rumors were buzzing up and down Washington’s K Street and around lawmakers’ offices on Capitol Hill that an issue-sized volley against Trump would soon be announced. It would be comprised of nearly two dozen nationally renowned conservative thinkers who had come together, despite denominational differences, in opposition to a Trump White House.
Unlike many conservative movements of the past, this one did not start in the heart of the country. This one was born in Washington, D.C. by political pundits — talking heads, but nonetheless, tried and true conservatives.
A sizeable group of editors, columnists and writers condemned a candidate, the self-funded billionaire turned alleged establishment-politician-in-populist-clothing, in an attempt to disturb the first national primary in Iowa, just eight days away.
A number of weeks ago National Review editor Rich Lowry began seeking out diverse writers who would band together to say in one voice that Trump is a phony.
And late Thursday night, the magazine, founded by the late William F. Buckley Jr., published a symposium to be followed in the print issue: #AgainstTrump.
The main editorial by Lowry and the editors unhesitantingly attacks Trump’s intentions. “Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones,” they say.
The additional essays by 22 esteemed right-of-center authors hit Trump from every possible angle. The lineup included:
Glenn Beck: nationally syndicated radio host, founder of TheBlaze, best-selling author
David Boaz: executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of The Libertarian Mind
L. Brent Bozell III: chairman of ForAmerica and president of the Media Research Center
Mona Charen: senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center
Ben Domenech: publisher of the Federalist
Eric Erickson: editor of The Resurgent and an Atlanta-based talk-radio host
Steven F. Hayward: Ronald Reagan Distinguished Visiting Professor at Pepperdine University
Mark Helprin: author of Winter’s Tale and A Soldier of the Great War
William Kristol: editor of the Weekly Standard
Yuval Levin: contributing editor of National Review, is the editor of National Affairs
Dana Loesch: host of a nationally syndicated radio program and of Dana on TheBlaze
Andrew McCarthy: contributing editor of National Review, former chief assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted terrorism cases
David McIntosh: president of The Club for Growth
Michael Medved: hosts a daily radio talk show heard on more than 300 stations across the country
Edwin Meese III: served in Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial and presidential administrations
Russell Moore: president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and author of Onward: Engaging the Culture without Losing the Gospel
Michael Mukasey: served as U.S. attorney general from 2007 to 2009 and as a U.S. district judge from 1988 to 2006, advisor to the Jeb Bush campaign on national-security issues
Katie Pavlich: editor of Townhall.com and best-selling author
John Podhoretz: editor of Commentary
R.R. Reno: editor of First Things
Thomas Sowell: senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Cal Thomas: nationally syndicated USA Today columnist and a Fox News contributor
