Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” Washington Post columnist George Will discussed his departure from the Republican Party and the decision by Fox News not to renew his contract as a network contributor.
Will suggested some of it was attributable to his refusal to support event President Donald Trump while he was a candidate. But later in that segment, he predicted some Republicans would change their opinions on Trump once he starts putting his policies forward.
“Donald Trump has to perform now,” Will said. “The next thing he has to do is submit a budget. When the budget comes up calling for a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending, a tax cut that will lose by bipartisan assessment $5.8 trillion over a decade plus an increased military spending, plus protectionism, which means government deciding what Americans can consume at what prices and what quantities — what’s called economic planning and crony capitalism and all the rest – when that budget comes out, people are either going to rediscover their conservative convictions, or there’s going to be a banquet, a feast of people eating words they’ve spoken for 30 years.”
“I watch – I’ll tell you who to watch, watch Congressman Meadows from North Carolina,” he continued. “He’s the head of the Freedom Caucus. The Freedom Caucus is what represents, to paraphrase what Howard Dean said when he represented the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party – they represent the Republican wing of the Republican Party. These are the true blue conservatives. And I think you’ll find that at that point, conservatism begins to rediscover itself.”
Will offered a timeline for host Lawrence O’Donnell, which he said would be by mid-summer when Republicans realize what supporting Trump entailed.
“[I] think when they realize all that you embrace when you embrace protectionism, enormous executive discretion, government planning essentially what we can consume and how the economy will work and who shall be winners and who shall be losers, when they realize the slippery slope they’re on, away from bedrock conservative principles, I think things will change by mid-summer.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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