Jim Geraghty: My Kind of Never Trumper

I listened yesterday to a Special Edition of The Three Martini Lunch. Since Jim Geraghty was in Ukraine, he and Greg Corombos recorded a filler episode; their take on the second Trump administration so far.

Listening to the episode, I was reminded why I still enjoy Geraghty as a commentator while a number of others who go under the “Never Trump” label bore or infuriate me.

Corombos and Geraghty divided the show into three sections: The Economy, Foreign Policy, and Culture.

Geraghty spoke of the welcome easing of governmental restrictions. He acknowledged he wished Trump would just seek a more simplified tax policy, but foresaw a more bullish market with tax burdens eased. He was quite critical of Trump’s tariffs.

As for foreign policy, he was happy with Trump’s more hawkish stance in the Middle East. He noted the benefit of Trump as a wild card, which already reaped benefits with groups like the Houthis. One of Geraghty's current political passions is the war in Ukraine, so he was predictably quite critical of Trump’s policy on that war.

As for culture, Geraghty was critical of Trump’s focus on what he saw as nothing burger issues, such as “The Gulf of America,” but was pleased with the change in direction in such issues as abortion and gender.

Geraghty would, I believe, still call himself a Never Trumper, and if, as MSNBC foretells, Trump changes the Constitution in order to run a third time, Geraghty wouldn’t vote for him. But he is more than willing to acknowledge the good that has come with Trump’s second term. To me, this seems like a very reasonable stance.

Geraghty doesn’t hold some of the positions of Never Trumpers that drive me mad. What are those positions that drive me mad, you ask? Oh, you didn’t ask? Here they are anyway:

• Trump is a unique threat to democracy - How is it that we lived through the first Trump presidency without minorities being rounded up into concentration camps, the New York Times being shuttered, or women forced to wear Handmaid’s Tale costumes (though plenty of liberal women wore them of their own free will), and yet these people are still convinced the Orange Man will bring about the Fourth Reich?

• We would be better off with the Democrats than Trump - Even our own poster child for Ricochet Never Trumpism, Yarob, went with the write-in option rather than vote for Harris. Yet there are some in the Never Trump clan that claim to be conservative and yet claim that the Democrats were a better option than Trump with a Republican House and Senate.

• A Trump Loss Would Usher in Utopia in the Next Election - There are a number of Never Trumpers who made the argument that a Trump defeat would lead to the American people becoming disgusted with the Democrats and a true conservative utopia would follow. Hey, it already played out. That’s why Trump won in 2024.

• Failure to Acknowledge Democratic Corruption - This is why I’m truly dismayed by those who didn’t, for example, report on Hunter’s laptop or Biden’s dementia. Those stories were fairly self-evident, but there are Never Trumpers who were more concerned about keeping Trump out of office than telling the truth.

• Seeing Oneself as a Political Martyr - I’m tired of Never Trumpers who bemoan their status as being without a party because they couldn’t support Harris or Trump. No one knows their pain as solitary prophets of political purity. Well, welcome to the party, pal! (Trademark co-owned by 20th Century Fox and The Three Martini Lunch.) There are plenty of conservative folks who didn’t feel like they could vote for Bush, McCain, and/or Romney or the Democrat option. That’s pretty much the standard in politics, two bad options. Sometimes you can talk yourself into voting for the lesser evil and sometimes you can’t. But don’t expect us to admire your virtue for feeling politically isolated. It’s a pretty common malady.

• Being a Token Conservative on Liberal Media - This is a rather subjective thing, but I have no problem with conservatives taking a position in a liberal media organization. Scott Jennings on CNN, and, yes, Jim Geraghty at the Washington Post, serve as voices of reason in the wilderness. But some conservatives seem to take positions at liberal organizations and become overly cautious. They’ll press the envelope, just a bit, but won’t risk ever saying anything positive about Trump without a steady stream of caveats.
• Changing Past Conservative Positions to Own MAGA - This is the worst. If one formerly supported governmental cuts, but finds DOGE icky… If one formerly supported women but now is cool with guys in girls’ showers… If one was formerly opposed to abortion but thinks getting rid of Trump is more important than life in the womb… Then get off the air and out of print.

If you are a conservative and didn’t vote for Trump, I understand that and would really like to work alongside you in our struggle to make America and the world a better place. But perhaps you could get a WWGD (What Would Geraghty Do) Bracelet.