The conservative intellectuals smitten with Trump.
The most cogent argument for electing Donald Trump was made not by Trump, or by his campaign, but by a writer who, unlike Trump, betrayed no eagerness to attach his name to his creations. He called himself Publius Decius Mus, after the Roman consul known for sacrificing himself in battle, although the author used a pseudonym precisely because he hoped not to suffer any repercussions. In September, on the Web site of the Claremont Review of Books, Decius published “The Flight 93 Election,” which likened the country to a hijacked airplane, and argued that voting for Trump was like charging the cockpit: the consequences were possibly dire, but the consequences of inaction were surely so. Decius sought to be cleareyed about the candidate he was endorsing. “Only in a corrupt republic, in corrupt times, could a Trump rise,” he wrote. But he argued that this corruption was also evidence of a national crisis, one that could be addressed only by a politician untethered to political piety. The author hailed Trump for his willingness to defend American workers and America’s borders. “Trump,” he wrote, “alone among candidates for high office in this or in the last seven (at least) cycles, has stood up to say: I want to live. I want my party to live. I want my country to live.” By holding the line on unauthorized immigration and rethinking free trade, Decius argued, Trump could help foster “solidarity among the working, lower middle, and middle classes of all races and ethnicities.” Decius identified himself as a conservative, but he saved much of his criticism for “house broken conservatives,” who warned of the perils of progressivism while doing nothing in particular to stop it. Electing Trump was a way to take a stand against both ambitious liberalism and insufficiently ambitious conservatism.
This story is from the January 9,2017 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 9,2017 edition of The New Yorker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Profiles – Mr. Vengeance
The director of "Oldboy” and "The Handmaiden” brings his gift for spectacle to American television.
A Reporter at Large – The Assault
One of Ukraine's most skilled fighting units battles beneath a canopy of drones.
SNAP JUDGMENTS
Is it the end of the world if Kirsten Dunst isn’t around to witness it? I’m beginning to wonder.
BLEEDING HEART
Olivia Rodrigo’s exuberant yearning.
WARP SPEED
Anni Albers helped establish weaving as art—then left it behind.
THE MISSING LINK
How Delmore Schwartz tried to change poetry.
LOVE MACHINES
Why stories about robotic romance push our buttons.
HOW GULLIBLE ARE YOU?
Dont believe what theyre telling you about misinformation.
GET REAL
How video-game engines became the invisible infrastructure of our world.
FLIGHT OF FANCY
Flying cars have long been a symbol of a future that never came. Are they finally here?