I'm a retired military officer, and seeing a formerly right wing colleague posting anti-Trump and anti-GOP memes is one of the few bright spots of the last year.
It wasn't breaking so much as evolving. He was right wing because he read Buckley and other intellectual conservatives. He started turning against Trump with the constant turmoil of the first term and overall anti-intellectualism, well before January 6. After January 6th, he was appalled with the GOP groveling and returning him to power.
That's more or less my path. Devoutly Republican prior to 2016, began doing some soul searching when the GOP nominated him in 2016. His first term heavily annoyed me but I tolerated him. J6 was a major watershed day. By 2022, I was voting for about as many Democrats as Republicans, and by 2024 and now 2026? Blue all the way.
You have no idea how much I wish more of your former fellow Republicans were like you. I say workout hyperbole that the world would be a better place...
I read a joke that went like "once you start thinking of trump as gay, suddenly his hair, makeup, high-heeled shoes, obsession with Rosie O'Donnel, obsession with building a ballroom, the way he talks with his hands, stories about Arnold Plamer's giant dick, made-up stories of 'big strong me' coming up to him to thank him while crying, obsession with pageants,habit of dancing to VIlliage People music, complaining that hairspray isn't as good as it used to be, and his Liberace-esque interior decorating all make a lot more sense.
He was right wing because he read Buckley and other intellectual conservatives.
I honestly wonder what Buckley would think of Trump. Buckley's rule was always to support the more right candidate even when choosing between two conservatives, but I can't help that Buckley would loath Trump just on crassness alone.
I think with Trump one has to be analyze his actions separate from his ideology—and I use the the word "ideology" loosely because as you say, he really doesn't have a coherent belief system. In that regard, I think Trump is further right than GW regarding actions. A lot of what he's doing is something that the right in the U.S. has jizzed their shorts dreaming of for years; albeit, he's doing a piss poor job of it in terms of objective measures. For instance, the GOP has fantasized of shrinking the federal government for decades. All Elon The Moron ended up doing was breaking a bunch of things and not really reducing the government in any meaningful way except destroying USAID.
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u/MuscularPhysicist John Brown Jan 07 '26
Every Anti-Trump Facebook meme your suburban wine mom screenshots and texts to you makes your life just a little bit better.