Republicans put on notice that a 'hard-earned awakening' lies ahead: conservatives

President Donald Trump does not understand the patriotism that motivated America’s founding fathers, a group of his conservative critics argued in a piece condemning his administration’s policies.

Critiquing Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement at the Munich Security Conference that “armies do not fight for abstractions,” pundit William Kristol described as “abstractions” classic American documents like the 1776 Declaration of Independence, future-president Abraham Lincoln’s 1859 tribute to President Thomas Jefferson and President Lincoln’s 1863 Gettysburg Address.

“The American people are better than our current government,” Kristol argued. “Civic spirit and enlightened patriotism are by no means dead in the United States. As the people of Minnesota have again reminded us,” referring to the anti-ICE protests that recently swept the state.

In terms of the broader Trump agenda, Kristol concluded that it is incompatible with the American revolutionary ideals it claims to embrace.

“The administration in which Rubio serves pretends to celebrate that revolution, but hates the abstract truth which animated that revolution and which elevates it above merely another mundane struggle for power or profit,” Kristol wrote. “The Trump administration hates that fact because it is a reminder that there is more to life than power and profit. And it hates that truth precisely because it remains a stumbling block to tyranny and oppression.”

The Bulwark repeatedly hosts conservatives who criticize Trump and his policies. For example, a separate Tuesday article urged ordinary people to be vigilant against Trump’s alleged attempts to steal the 2026 midterm elections.

"Vigilance is warranted, but excessive fear plays into the authoritarians' hands," journalist/author and political science professor Nicholas Grossman argued. "This is not a call for complacency. Backsliding from democracy into authoritarianism is greased by people saying, 'Calm down, it’ll be fine, the institutions will handle it, he doesn't mean it, someone will stop him.' I'm not doing that. But I think it's important to right-size worries, to focus on what could realistically happen rather than lose time and expend attention and resources worrying about what can't…. The Trump regime's desire for domination is bottomless, but its capacity is not."

Bulwark authors have also predicted that Trump voters will turn on their president, especially as his tariffs continue to be primarily absorbed by US consumers.

“The Trump years have been and remain all too real, and we're not going suddenly to wake up and discover that all is back to normal,” wrote William Kristol, Andrew Egger, Cathy Young and Jim Swift in a piece about Trump pulling ICE agents about Minnesota due to widespread civil protests. “But yesterday offered some promise that a hard-earned awakening could lie ahead."

Bulwark has also explained how it is difficult for Trump to spin away the economic impact of his tariffs.

“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” The Bulwark’s Mona Charen wrote. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”

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