Unprincipled Conservatism

Before Trump’s 2018 midterms, current Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote “7 Core Principles of Conservatism,” summarizing his “central beliefs.” Johnson’s website brags that many “conservative organizations and lawmaking bodies nationwide have adopted this list as their own,” but it is most relevant today as evidence of how the Republican Party has changed under Donald Trump. Beginning with “Individual Freedom,” Johnson believes conservatives should “always aim to maintain and increase the liberty of the American people,” including their “free speech.” Yet in less than two years into his second term, Trump’s administration has violated the First Amendment’s free speech clause 75 times. After only nine months, over 200 court decisions identified violations of what Johnson calls our “God-given liberties.” Under “Limited Government,” Johnson demands “decentralized authority,” a principle Trump has reversed through unprecedented expansions of executive powers. Trump has already…