I have heard (and agreed) for the better part of a decade now that permanent "Never Trump" posturing doesn't make a lot of sense.
Principled opposition during the campaign season notwithstanding, once Donald Trump had won the elections either in 2016 or 2024, it became logically absurd and ethically backwards to say, "I will oppose anything and everything Trump does." People who take such a shortsighted position are ideologically rudderless and morally bankrupt.
The same thing goes for those who have adopted the identity of "Always" Trump. Those who instinctively, reflexively support and defend anything and everything the president does simply because they like him. It's just as obtuse.
"Celebrate good policy, criticize bad policy" doesn't seem that outrageous of an approach to the politically sane. But while those unwilling to do the former are well documented on the Right, there's plenty of bad omens emerging from the opening months of this second Trump administration, that need to be acknowledged and addressed. Ignoring them, or worse defending them, is unwise sycophancy that won't help Donald Trump's presidency or his legacy. What is best for him is the same thing that is best for our country - honest straight talk from his side about some really bad ideas.
Ideas like this:
When Donald Trump starts doing his best Bernie Sanders imitation, it's time for the grown-ups to say something. This is just staggering incoherence - truly nothing different than when the Left regularly attempts to blame "greedy corporations" for the costs of inflation. The price increases people are seeing are on Donald Trump and his tariff gambit. Frankly, I'm not sure how anyone who supports the president can avoid acknowledging this given that Trump himself has acknowledged it.
In enacting these taxes on imports, the president said there would be short-term pain, followed by glorious, long-term gain. He told everyone that we would have to sacrifice to correct this trade imbalance that has been plaguing us and "ripping us off" for years. In other words, he admitted that there would be cost increases to consumers. Don't forget this doozy:
Good grief that's bad. This is far from the kind of pro-growth, pro-abundance, pro-prosperity policy the Republican Party (and the larger conservative movement that animates it) has constructed its identity around. Austerity economics? Telling girls used to 30 dolls that they'll have to be okay with two (which also tells girls used to two dolls that they'll have to be okay with none) is another way of saying, "Everything is about to get more expensive and you won't be able to buy as many products as you used to."
So then, why start sounding like a socialist, angrily berating corporations when they raise prices just as you said they would have to do?
Walmart makes billions in revenue, yes. But they only clear about 3% profit. Telling that company they have to "eat" the cost of your tariffs is no different than Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden telling them they needed to "eat" the cost of Democrat inflation. It's economic nonsense.
Speaking of fiscal ignorance, here's another boneheaded proposal:
"Tax the rich." "Sacrifice." "Fair share." "Redistribution of wealth."
Didn't Kamala lose the election? Tax hikes of any kind, targeted specifically against wealth producers, all to benefit a government that is already way too big, spending way too much money is simply bad policy. It was when we called it Bidenomics. It is when we call it Trumponomics too.
The time to shield President Trump from criticism, to reflexively clapback with, "Well, he's far better than the alternative," has passed.
He's the president now. He's not running again. So please, those who like the guy -- who want to see him succeed, who want him to lead some kind of American comeback -- he needs to know this isn't the way to do it. He needs to hear it from those wearing red hats, especially.
We're not doing him, nor our country, any favors by staying silent.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
