An influential conservative magazine is launching a full-throated assault on Donald Trump’s credentials as a conservative, widening a rift in the Republican party over its presidential primary front-runner.
The latest issue of National Review, which credits itself with founding the modern conservative movement, is emblazoned with the words “Against Trump” on the cover. Inside, 22 conservatives contend that Trump isn’t a true conservative and that he’s a disaster for the party.
“These contributors have many differences of opinion among themselves, but all agree that Trump is not a conservative, he is a mistake for the Republican Party, and he is the wrong man to pick up the pieces after the wreckage of the Obama years,” editor Rich Lowry said, warning against the “siren song” of Trump.
The contributors include Glenn Beck, former U.S. Attorneys General Edwin Meese and Michael Mukasey, columnist Cal Thomas, novelist Mark Helprin, Cato Institute executive vice president David Boaz and Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“These are not the ideas of a small-government conservative who understands markets,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh writes of Trump. “They are, instead, the ramblings of a liberal wannabe strongman who will use and abuse the power of the federal government to impose his ideas on the country."
Trump responded via Twitter, calling the magazine a “failing publication” that would shame its founder, William F. Buckley.