The New York Times on Tuesday warned its readers the America First movement has an intellectual backbone that will dominate politics for years to come.
The article admitted Trump’s America First movement has “not lost momentum” since he left office and will continue to shape the future of politics not just in 2022, but through 2024. Democrats will no longer have an endless supply of establishment and “low energy” Republicans with whom to contend.
“The primal forces unleased by Trump have not lost momentum. Whoever ends up as the Republican Party nominee in 2024 — whether it is Trump himself or one of the other contenders — will be under pressure to continue the abandonment of principle,” the article said. “Whether Trumpism is more powerful with Trump or without him is still an open question, but the MAGA movement shows no real sign of abating.”
US President Donald Trump walks at the end of a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia on December 5, 2020. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
Edsall blamed the success of the America First movement on conservative intellectuals who have “buoyed the Trumpist right” by discarding the establishment uni-party that has plagued the nation since Lyndon Johnson. Specifically, the author points to America First-oriented think tanks, such as “the Claremont Institute, Hillsdale College, First Things magazine and the American Mind website.”
The article highlighted a threat Democrats fear, namely conservative thinkers that will not bow to woke academia, which has embraced Critical Race Theory, transgenderism, and cultural relativism over the decades.
The author explicitly warned readers to be wary of several influential thinkers on the right:
Take the analysis of John Marini, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute, in his 2016 essay, “Donald Trump and the American Crisis.” Or take the view of Sohrab Ahmari, a columnist for First Things … Or take the view of Glenn Ellmers, a visiting research scholar at Hillsdale College, in his 2021 essay, “Conservatism’ Is No Longer Enough.”
Sohrab Ahmari speaking with attendees at the 2021 Student Action Summit hosted by Turning Point USA at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. (Gage Skidmore)
The author rightly revealed that conservatives, centered around Trump, have successfully created an academic alternative with deep thinkers who can think past MAGA slogans and form America First policies.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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