“I believe, by the way, Donald Trump has become the president we need at exactly the moment that his skill set is most called for.”
—Hugh Hewitt, conservative radio host and highly sophisticated Trump apologist, Mar. 19, 2020
No, this is not a parody, and Hewitt wasn’t being sarcastic or snarky. He said this in all seriousness. The question is: why? Hewitt, after all, is not a stupid man. To the contrary: he’s very bright—and he may be the best talk radio host in America.
A Harvard grad, Hewitt is an attorney and a fairly prolific author. He surely understands that Trump is the most incapable and unfit president in all of American history.
In fact, during the 2016 Republican primary race, Hewitt exposed Trump’s utter ignorance with some very basic foreign policy questions that Trump simply could not answer.
Why, then, does Hewitt insist on being such a dishonest shill and apologist for Trump?
Conservative Policy Achievements. No doubt because, like me—and like many conservatives—he is grateful for much of what the Trump administration (as opposed to Trump himself) has done.
There are, after all, Trump’s two supreme court justices, the 44 Circuit Court judges, and 112 District Court judges—almost all of whom are solid, well-credentialed originalists vetted and approved by the Federalist Society.
Given the outsized role that the courts and the judiciary regrettably now play in American life, this is a critical achievement, which will far outlive Trump and his administration. And it is something all conservatives deeply appreciate.
Then, too, there is corporate tax and regulatory reform, which, at least before the coronavirus, made American businesses far more competitive internationally, while fueling sustained economic growth and record-low unemployment.
Trump also ended sequestration, which had been devastating to U.S. military readiness. And he wisely withdrew from the Iranian nuclear deal, because it would have enabled Iran to become a nuclear-armed power.
Of course, there are many things that Trump has done which, as a conservative, I do not like. His Syrian withdrawal and abandonment of the Kurds, for instance, was strategically unwise and morally reprehensible
His inability to build international alliances, likewise, has seriously handicapped our nation’s ability to shape the world order in ways that truly put America, and American interests, first
And Trump’s heavy-handed, bull-in-a-china-shop approach to trade and tariffs has been a self-inflicted wound that has weakened economic growth at home, while being mostly ineffective at bringing the Chinese to heel.
Still, I will acknowledge that Trump has done enough, arguably, to warrant conservative support. So I don’t begrudge or criticize Hewitt for supporting the president.
Instead, what I find quite objectionable is Hewitt’s dishonesty in supporting Trump.
Dishonesty. It is one thing, after all, to support Trump administration policies (as I largely do, albeit with some significant exceptions), while forthrightly and honestly acknowledging Trump’s myriad character flaws and objectionable behavior (as I also do).
It is another thing altogether, though, to support Trump administration policies while denying Trump’s obvious flaws and objectionable behavior, which is what Hewitt does.
And in fact, Hewitt does much worse than that. Not only does he refuse to acknowledge Trump’s all-too-egregious missteps and misdeeds; he also actually insists (as the aforementioned quote at the top of this posts indicates) that Trump is doing a great job!
This is simply dishonest, as Hewitt surely knows.
But Hewitt, like many pundits and commentators today, left and right, rationalizes his dishonesty because he views himself as a member of a team.
Political Teams. Hewitt sees himself as a member of the center-right, GOP team. Therefore, in his mind, he must behave like a good trial attorney and mount a vigorous and unyielding defense of his “client”—Trump specifically and the GOP more generally.
Thus Hewitt doesn’t see himself as being dishonest. Instead, he sees himself as a good and loyal teammate putting forth the best defense that he possibly can for his client.
Unfortunately Hewitt is not alone.The way he sees himself is how a great many pundits and commentators today, left and right, see themselves: as coaches and teammates for whom team loyalty is the highest virtue.
That’s not how I see myself. And it is not the guiding inspiration behind this website, ResCon1. Although I am proudly and unabashedly conservative, I am not a member of any team.
Instead, I am an army of one. Thus I call it like it I see it, regardless of the political consequences, and let the chips fall where they may.
I think the quality of our political commentary would improve immeasurably if that is how most pundits and commentators approached their work. At the very least, it would mean more honest and truthful political commentary.
But alas, we live in highly polarized times in which everyone feels a need to pick a side and fiercely defend their side—no matter what: because the other side is too dangerous to trust with the reins of political power.
Truth. I get it, but that still doesn’t make it right—or wise. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).” Good advice then; good advice today—for both readers and pundits.
In the meantime, consider the source, as they say. Consider the source of your news. Understand the biases and prejudices of reporters and pundits, and what motivates them.
Are they committed to the truth, to an ideological agenda, or to a political team? Are they politically and philosophically aware and informed? Or are they, instead, the product of a cloistered educational system that has shielded them from important schools of thought?
Because all of this matters, and in ways you might not fully realize. Just ask—or listen to—Hugh Hewitt.
Feature photo credit: NBC News via the Philadelphia Inquirer.