What do the following individuals have in common: William Kristol, Jonah Goldberg, Stephen Hayes, Max Boot, Steve Schmidt, Rick Wilson, John Weaver, Jennifer Rubin, John Podhoretz, and George Conway? Answer: All are (or claim to be) conservative, all are idiots, and all are suddenly useless.
A useful idiot, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a naive or credulous person who can be manipulated or exploited to advance a cause or political agenda.” The term is said to have originated in communist countries to describe those who, while not themselves communists, wittingly or unwittingly served the communist cause.
Kristol, Goldberg, Hayes, et al., were, prior to 3 November 2020, useful idiots to the International Left. While not themselves leftists, they served the leftist cause by appearing regularly on left-wing television networks such as CNN and MSNBC to bash President Donald Trump and his followers, associates, and supporters.
Inquiring minds want to know the following:
1. To whom were the Never Trumpers useful?
2. How (precisely) were the Never Trumpers useful?
3. Were the Never Trumpers aware that they were being used? If so, why did they allow it?
4. What happened on 3 November 2020 to destroy the usefulness of the Never Trumpers?
5. Now that the usefulness of the Never Trumpers is at an end, what is to become of them?
1. To whom were the Never Trumpers useful? The Never Trumpers were useful to the International Left, and in particular to the American Democrat Party. The aim of the International Left since 8 November 2016 has been to destroy the presidency of Donald Trump. By “destroy the presidency,” I mean prevent Trump from implementing any of his ideas and from keeping any of his campaign promises. International leftists want open borders, cheap labor, free trade, and massive environmental regulation. Trump was a threat to all of these objectives. He had to be thwarted at every turn and, more importantly, prevented from being re-elected in 2020.
2. How (precisely) were the Never Trumpers useful? The Never Trumpers were useful to the International Left by making it appear as though opposition to Trump and his administration was bipartisan. Each time one of them appeared on CNN or MSNBC, or wrote a column in a major newspaper, he or she sent the message that no reasonable person of either political party could support Trump. “Why, if even Republicans oppose him, he must be really bad!”
The Never Trumpers served another purpose as well. Their hatred for the president was (and is) visceral. They engaged in name-calling, character assassination, mockery, fear-mongering, and reckless exaggeration. The goal was to generate an emotional reaction in the audience. Hatred, like an infectious disease, needs healthy hosts in order to spread. By inviting Never Trumpers onto their programs, the on-air “talent” of the left-wing television networks assured their audiences that their hatred was normal, natural, and fitting. Indeed, so relentless was the hatred spewed by the Never Trumpers that it caused the left-wing audience to think that it wasn’t hatred they were experiencing but justice. “Donald Trump is evil. Therefore, no amount of harm to him or his supporters is excessive or inappropriate.”
3. Were the Never Trumpers aware that they were being used? If so, why did they allow it? Some Never Trumpers may have been unaware that they were being used, but it’s hard to believe that more than a few of them fall into this category. Those who were aware simply didn’t mind being used. Why? Because (a) they were given a forum in which to express their hatred (which, in a perverse way, was deeply satisfying to them), and (b) they profited from it financially. I am not privy to the amount of income the Never Trumpers earned from appearing on left-wing television programs, but it cannot be an insignificant amount.
Never Trumpers are nothing if not self-interested, self-aggrandizing, and self-promoting. Some of them made a fortune running conservative magazines while offering expensive cruises to gullible conservatives. They have been shaking down conservative or libertarian donors for decades. When Donald Trump was elected president, they simply shifted their focus. Instead of scamming conservatives and libertarians, as had been their wont, they began to scam progressives and liberals. It’s really quite remarkable how seamless this transition was. It shows that scamming is an art and that some people (scam artists) are proficient in it.
4. What happened on 3 November 2020 to destroy the usefulness of the Never Trumpers? This question admits of both a shallow and a deep answer. The shallow answer is that the presidential election occurred. The deep answer is that, whether President Trump is re-elected or not (the outcome has yet to be determined), he will never again run for public office. The goal of the International Left was to dissuade people from voting for him in 2020. Now that the election is over, there is no need to dissuade. The Never Trumpers were propped up (i.e., given an audience) precisely to dissuade conservatives from voting for Trump. How successful they were in doing this is debatable, but that was the goal. Since Trump will never again face re-election, there is nobody to be dissuaded from voting.
5. Now that the usefulness of the Never Trumpers is at an end, what is to become of them? Nobody knows quite yet how things will end for the Never Trumpers, but I would be very surprised if any of them appear again (or very often) on left-wing television networks. What would be the point? Yes, there may be a residual purpose to be served by having them spit venom at Donald Trump, especially if he wins the recount and serves a second term. But if Trump is defeated, there will no longer be a need to thwart him (since he will have no political power) or to dissuade prospective Trump voters (since, unless Trump runs again in 2024, there will be no more elections in which he is a candidate).
In short, the International Left no longer has a use for the Never Trumpers. They are useless in the strict sense of “not fulfilling or not expected to achieve the intended purpose or desired outcome.” If the Never Trumpers thought that they had a permanent gig on left-wing television, they are going to be surprised and disappointed to learn that their services are no longer in demand.
Will the Never Trumpers perchance find a home in the Republican Party? Of the answer to this question I am even more certain: no. The Republican Party has been transformed for at least a generation, and probably longer. It was once the party of internationalists, militarists, financiers, and bluebloods. It is now the party of patriotic Americans, pacifists, fair-traders, and workers (blue-collar, pink-collar, and white-collar). Donald Trump did the remaking. The 73 million people who voted for him are unlikely to return to the status quo ante in which they were expected to donate money, vote, and submit to their social and economic “superiors,” but otherwise shut up.
Not everyone who voted for President Trump knows the names of the Never Trumpers, but many of them do, and it’s laughable to think that these voters will ever forgive the turncoats for betraying the man and the cause. The Never Trumpers abandoned the Right and are now in the process of being abandoned by the Left, to whom their “services” are no longer needed. This makes the Never Trumpers quite useless—and what could be more fitting than uselessness for a group of smarmy, self-serving haters?
(My apologies to Daniel Defoe for appropriating part of his famous title.)