On February 15, 2016, the longtime house journal of American conservatism published nearly two dozen essays with the express purpose of repudiating the then-ascendant Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Featuring contributions from such prominent voices in the conservative movement as Bill Kristol and Glenn Beck, the National Review’s now infamous “Against Trump” issue denounced the soon-to-be president as no less than a “philosophically unmoored political opportunist” — a dangerous demagogue antithetical to everything conservatism stood for who had to be stopped in his quest for the GOP nomination at any cost. 

Trump, it hardly needs saying, hastily conquered both the American conservative movement and its principal political arm, the Republican Party. And in a development which should have surprised no one, at least half of those who had contributed to February 2016’s official censure not only fell in line but became some of Trumpism’s most zealous and committed partisans. 

This includes Eric Erickson, the conservative talk-radio host who once condemned Trump as “a racist” and “a fascist” adding that it was no surprise “so many people with swastikas in their Twitter profile pics” support him. “I will not vote for Donald Trump. Ever.” wrote Erickson — who recently published a piece entitled “I Support the President.”