Sympathy for Sixty Million Conservatives
Will Republicans put country over politics? It's a tough choice.
As Americans approach a highly consequential midterm congressional election, I have some sympathy for sixty million of them.
The sixty million I have in mind are the roughly one-third of registered voters in the center-right of the political spectrum: normal Republicans, centrists, and even some MAGA supporters who are not Trump messianists. (Roughly a quarter of voters, and a majority of Republicans, identify with the MAGA movement, according to a March 2026 poll.)
Polls tell us these voters — not only the usual swing voters, but many conservatives as well — have soured on Donald Trump for a variety of very good reasons, most notably the Iran war, the economy, the Epstein Files, and an assortment of scandals. Yet they continue to support Republicans in Congress who have done almost nothing to curb Trump’s excesses (the criticism of his now-withdrawn $1.8 billion slush fund to reward J6 rioters and political allies is the first significant exception) and within the GOP, they have rejected most of those who have.
Obviously, in ordinary elections, people support candidates and parties they agree with. One may disapprove of Trump but approve of one’s local representative and the policies they stand for. Or one might disapprove of some of what Trump does while approving of other parts. That is how politics works — and arguably, conservatives understand this better than progressives, who often reject imperfect candidates rather than choose the so-called “lesser of two evils.” Numerically speaking, had progressives not done this in 2000, 2016, and 2024, the results of those years’ presidential elections would have been different. Of course, you can blame the candidates rather than the voters, but the voters made the actual decisions.
The question, then, is whether the 2026 election is an ordinary election or not. If it is, then splitting the ticket — disapproving of Trump but voting for Republicans in congressional and state elections — makes as much sense as ever. But is it?
While for Democrats, the answer is obviously No, a closer look at the varieties of Trump’s depredations makes things a little more complicated. So let’s disaggregate them.
First, there are the absurd, narcissistic, and wildly destructive actions: the all-night Twitter storms, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, threatening Canada with annexation, threatening Greenland with occupation, renaming the Kennedy Center after himself and eventually destroying the institution, accepting bogus peace prizes, tearing down the East Wing of the White House and building a preposterous ballroom without review or oversight, degrading the Oval Office by plastering it with cheap gold ornaments from Home Depot, proposing to put himself on a $250 bill, staging a UFC mega-event on the White House lawn, falling asleep in Cabinet meetings, insulting political opponents like a six-year-old boy with behavior issues, and compulsively posting AI images of himself as Jesus or himself as a fighter pilot dropping shit on protesters or the Obamas as apes or whatever else he’s posting at three in the morning.
(Please add your own in the comments. I like comprehensive lists.)
To my mind, this collection of actions has serious, lasting consequences. The world has awakened to the fact that America cannot be relied on as an ally, that it can too easily be ruled by a madman. It also seems clear that some of these actions point to serious cognitive decline. But I suppose reasonable people can disagree about that, and I admit, in my own hopeful moments, I fantasize about undoing Trump’s physical and symbolic vandalism. Maybe conservatives are right that this is Trump being Trump, and that we shouldn’t worry about it so much.
Normal conservatives might also dismiss, or approve of, actions like Trump’s economically catastrophic and constitutionally dubious tariffs, the totally ineffective but devastating DOGE adventure, taking healthcare coverage away from working class people while giving billionaires the largest tax cuts in history, declaring war on Iran for no good reason, giving power to people like Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth, failing to plan for the massive changes AI is already wreaking on society, and the GOP’s blank-check support for Israel’s extremist government and its plans for the eradication of Gaza while waffling on Ukraine and deserting allies around the globe.
In all these cases, most Democrats face no conflicted emotions: there are all terrible. But for Republicans, they are a mixed bag.
But then there are those actions, past and threatened, that have done immense damage to American democracy itself. Actions like:
Threatening the 2026 election, not just with awful but longstanding tactics (e.g. gerrymandering) but with many that are unprecedented, like bogus election certification commissions, MAGA loyalists in key posts, and threats of ICE showing up.
Ignoring judicial orders and threatening the rule of law, politicizing the Justice Department and instituting a non-democratic order
Trying to make the Epstein Files go away, and then clearly covering up evidence of massive crimes (including some by Trump himself) while exposing the names of victims.
Not just cracking down on immigration but militarily occupying American cities, which has never been done before, and sweeping up legal residents and American citizens in the dragnet. (ICE’s growth is still unchecked, by the way; they just have better PR.)
Unprecedented corruption that has netted the Trump family over $4,000,000,000 thanks to crypto ponzi schemes, outright bribery, and most recently Trump suing the IRS and then settling with himself in an unprecedented act of brazen lawlessness.
Engaging in countless actions that constitutionally and democratically require congressional approval, but which Trump clearly believes are just up to him
Extreme rhetoric directed against federal judges, courts, political opponents, immigrants, and even (though not most importantly) progressive Jews like yours truly who, Trump says, hate our religion.
These, I think, have to be seen differently. Without checks on Trump’s power — most importantly, a Congress that will stand up to him and reject his anti-democratic moves — what do these 60 million voters think will happen to this country over the next two years? In an imaginary parallel universe, Republicans themselves would be leading the charge against Trump’s anti-democratic actions. They would wave the flag and support conservative causes, but demand that, I don’t know, congressional approval be required before demolishing part of the White House.
But Republicans haven’t done this, because the MAGA faithful control their party and they want to keep their jobs. There are some cracks in the wall — around Israel, most notably — but not many.
And so these sixty million voters are being forced to choose: elect people and policies they agree with, or side with Democrats to preserve the constitutional order. And unfortunately I am pessimistic that they will do so, for several reasons.
First, as mentioned above, these voters are transactional. Conservative Christians, for example, don’t see flawed Republicans as the lesser of two evils: they see them as their ticket to get what they really want, from abortion bans and anti-trans initiatives to funding for religious schools and Christian nationalism. In the case of Trump himself, many see him as God’s chosen messenger. Contrast their approach with the ‘Abandon Biden’ crowd in 2024 or the Nader voters of 2000. Progressives demand absolute purity; conservatives, for all their moral absolutism, are more pragmatic. And there are even some independents, mavericks, centrists, and whatever Jeff Bezos is willing to overlook those things to get what they want, like less AI regulation, legalization of psychedelic medicines, or the MAHA agenda.
Second, these sixty million voters are insulated from many of Trump’s worst actions by a media ecosystem that ignores or whitewashes them. When it comes to the damage Trump is doing to America and its democratic institutions, some of these voters don’t care, some don’t believe the hype, and some don’t even know about it.
Third, there is the continued, sad fact that it’s the economy, stupid. As we saw in 2024, preserving democracy is a losing election issue. Which is why Democrats across the country are running campaigns of false consciousness: running on affordability but secretly motivated by a desire to save American democracy. Shhhh, the consultants say, don’t say that part out loud. It’s not that the economy isn’t a real concern; it is. People are still hurting, the K-shaped economy is devastating the middle class, and the looming threats of AI job loss are only barely known. And Democrats have a strong case to make on affordability, which they have made successfully in New York and around the country. They are telling the truth. Just not the whole truth.
Finally, there is the human capacity for denial. I see it in myself, imagining that someday, this will all be over and America will turn the page on this dark period. Not every clock can be turned back, but we imagine that some kind of reset is possible. So, I imagine, the 60 million center-right voters of America brush off the exaggerations of the liberal media. Surely the damage isn’t that grave; the end of the world isn’t really nigh. Trump will be Trump, but we will get through this.
Most of the time, I hope these voters will awaken to the truth that their country really needs them and their congressional representatives have abdicated their responsibilities to the nation. The sixty million are patriotic voters, and I think they know in their hearts that Trump has to be slowed, if not stopped, for the sake of the country — even if that means empowering a party that stands for values they oppose.
On the other hand, if these conservatives really believe that Trump isn’t as bad as we think he is — well, I hope they’re right.
Some recommended reading this week, plus a rant:
I’m glad Anya Kamenetz wrote about the IPCC’s withdrawal of the “worst case scenario” for climate change, because otherwise I would have. I wrote about this several years ago at the Daily Beast. The fact is, climate alarmists — most importantly David Wallace-Wells and George Monbiot — repeatedly seized on the worst case scenario as being the inevitable one, and used it to argue for unachievable, utopian changes that made everything seem hopeless. They were richly rewarded for this unscientific doomerism that seriously harmed real efforts to mitigate climate disaster. And now that worst-case scenario is off the table, making the whole crisis seem overblown. This has been a catastrophic error of poor journalism and poor communication and it continues to make me furious. And it continues to this day, especially as Wallace-Wells continues to exaggerate other crises (e.g. Covid) and grow his platform. Rant complete.
The Status Kuo did a great and surprisingly detailed report on the America 250 Fiasco, in which even Milli Vanilli has refused to perform.
Did you know that Pope Leo’s encyclical critical of AI appears to have been partly written by AI? Wow. h/t Jello Menorah .
Finally, I asked friends on social media to suggest their favorite insane Trump moments — not the serious stuff, but for the laundry list of ludicrousness. I used only Trump 2.0 moments for my list, but my friend, musician Yosef Goldman, came up with some excellent ones from 2016-2020. So:
Ranting about how stealth fighters are literally “invisible.”
Turning a Boy Scouts jamboree into a rambling speech about his election victory, “hottest people in New York,” and a friend’s sex‑and‑yachts lifestyle.
His common long rant in speeches about how toilets and dishwashers don’t have enough water so people have to flush “10 times, 15 times.”
Saying he liked McDonald’s in part because of a “longtime fear of being poisoned.” And Serving the Clemson championship team a silver‑plattered McDonald’s feast in the White House and bragging he paid for it himself.
Midnight “covfefe”
Announced a non‑existent terror attack in Sweden, forcing Sweden to publicly say nothing had happened
Boasting about ordering missile strikes on Syria while eating “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake” with Xi Jinping, then mixing up which country had been hit when retelling the story.
Staring directly at a solar eclipse without eye protection
Handing classified ISIS‑related intel to Russian officials in the Oval Office
“Person, woman, man, camera, TV” cognitive‑test brag
Sharpie‑altered Hurricane Dorian map (“Sharpie‑gate”)
Trying to buy Greenland, then canceling a state visit to Denmark when they laughed
Throwing paper towels in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria – October 2017.
Alleging that wind turbines cause cancer and drive whales “crazy”
Throwing food at walls in rage (ketchup on the wall)
And of course, insisting his inauguration crowd was the biggest ever
Please laugh and cry simultaneously. Welcome to Both/And.
I know your point, but boy the first half of this reads like an Onion article:
"I sympathize with conservatives, they're in a tough spot. I mean yes republicans in congress sit idly by as Trump tried to destroy one of the oldest democracies in the World, and started an unnecessary war we're now losing and they won't make any effort to stop and while he murders people in boats illegally, and destroys the economy through tariffs they're supposed to be in control of, and makes a mockery of America around the world through his corruption and plastering himself all over government building and money, but other than that they're doing a great job pretending to be pro-life (despite the war, murders, and rising abortion rates) and keeping trans women off swim teams, so ..."
My perhaps fantasied hope is that we don't need the 60 million. We just have to peel off enough flip-floppers and for enough of the rest stay home to grab congress.