Why we must welcome the MAGA defectors
I spent the first 29 years of my adult life as a Republican. But the day after the 2016 election, I re-registered as an independent. A couple of years later I wrote a book that reflected on my career as a conservative and admitted errors ranging from my support for the Iraq War to my willingness to overlook the GOP’S growing nuttiness. I admitted that I too bore some responsibility for President Donald Trump’s rise.
None of that has deterred some progressives from attacking me as a war criminal who should never be allowed to publish another word again. One scold wrote, “Iraq-raping Neocons Are Suddenly Posing As Woke Progressives To Gain Support.” Another kind soul wrote, “Max Boot is very sorry for backing the GOP and the Iraq invasion. Why is he being praised for this?”
As you might imagine, this experience gives me additional sympathy for political defectors — whether they are moving from right to left or left to right — because I know that either way, it’s not easy. You are likely to be reviled by old friends who can’t understand why you left and jeered by new allies who can’t understand why were ever on the “wrong” side to begin with. Both sides are likely to question your motives.
That brings me to recent defectors from the Trumpist cult such as former national security adviser John Bolton, former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-wyo., and now former attorney general William Barr. In my opinion, their decisions to break ranks are heroic, but many progressives insist they’re as villainous as ever.
When Bolton came out with a memoir full of juicy revelations about Trump, a liberal writer scoffed “John Bolton is no hero” because he didn’t testify at Trump’s impeachment (as if his testimony would have changed anything). The Intercept ran a piece headlined, “John Bolton is telling the truth, but let’s not forget his horrible, dangerous career,” which begins with his youthful support for the Vietnam War.
When Cheney voted for Trump’s impeachment and kept speaking out against him, a New York Times columnist wrote: “Liz Cheney, We Have a Memory. You’re No Hero,” and recited all of her conservative views. A New York Daily News writer wrote that she didn’t deserve credit for telling the truth about the election even though it cost her a leadership post: “It feels very much like what a politician is supposed to do.”
When Taylor quit DHS and revealed that he was the anonymous author who had written an op-ed and book denouncing Trump, Mother Jones responded with an article — “Monsters of 2020: Miles Taylor” — which listed all the terrible things DHS did while Taylor worked there.
Now that Barr has given an interview revealing why he refused to support Trump’s claims of election fraud (“It was all bulls---”), he is getting the same treatment. “Don’t fall for the Bill Barr rebrand,” writes the Week. “Don’t buy Bill Barr’s latest story about the Big Lie,” advises a CNN commentator, who points out that, before the election, Barr had also voiced suspicions of election fraud.
All these commentators have valid points. I, too, have been quite critical of Bolton and Barr — perhaps overly critical. But while it’s not wrong to note their misdeeds, it feels a bit ungenerous to do so now.
Their willingness to speak out against Trump makes me look at them in a new way. I realize that, once again, I may have been wrong: These Trumpkins may not have been as bad as I thought.
This is a useful reminder that it’s an error to reduce everyone in politics to a single category, either good or bad, as we pontificators are wont to do. People are complicated and fallible. I’m not religious, but I believe in the possibility of political salvation and the hope of ideological redemption. I wish they had come around sooner, but it’s never too late.
You must be pretty sure of your own infallibility to mock others for having been wrong. As someone who knows what it’s like to make mistakes, I cut some slack to my companions in error. Even if you are convinced you have always been right about everything, consider the personal cost to right-wingers who break with the vindictive former president. The blowback will be worse than you can imagine — and far different from the approbation you receive from your like-minded friends. Anti-trump Republicans don’t deserve a medal, but nor do they deserve a kick in the shins.
Finally, a practical consideration: If you want to build a majority, you should make it as easy as possible for people to join your side. Calling them names even when they agree with you doesn’t encourage more defections.
I’m not saying that Bolton, Cheney, Taylor, Barr or anyone else should be absolved of all sins for taking a stand against Trump. Like all of us, they will face the judgment of history. But I simply can’t bring myself to attack them for doing the right thing.