The torment of a lapsed NeverTrumper

As far as I can tell, it is mainly the "whole woke agenda" that drove Daniel Pipes back to supporting a man he once compared to Mussolini

Few are as fascinating as the sophisticated globalist who supports Donald Trump for president of the United States. And of such persons, few are likely to offer as enlightening and honest an explanation as Daniel Pipes.

Pipes, whom I have known for some years, is a prominent American historian and a member of the neoconservative movement that briefly flourished two decades ago. Known for his conservative views on Islam and the Arab-Israeli conflict, he founded the Middle East Forum, a think tank promoting American interests in the region.  In 2003, President George W. Bush appointed him to the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a controversial decision due to Pipes' outspoken critiques of Islam and Middle Eastern studies in academia.

In 2016, Pipes was a prominent NeverTrumper. He wrote that Trump resembled World War II era Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and that he wants the military, Congress, the press and citizens to submit to his will, memorably summarizing the situation as follows: “Trump's boorish, selfish, puerile and repulsive character combined with his prideful ignorance, off-the-cuff policymaking and his neo-fascistic tendencies make him the most divisive and scary of any serious presidential candidate in American history.” He quit the GOP in disgust and declared that “nothing is as important as resisting and defeating Donald Trump and the neo-fascist virus he wishes to bring to the White House.”

So far, so observant. But in 2020, Pipes flipped. In a somewhat sheepish but admirably transparent column in Newsweek, he wrote that despite Trump’s huffing and puffing he’d actually governed as a standard conservative and therefore he would offer the incumbent “a reluctant but unhesitating vote.” This, despite Trump’s shakedown of the now-far-more-famous Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to his impeachment, and the other many bizarre aspects that characterized his term.

With the pivotal 2024 election fast approaching, and Trump – incredibly – again on the ballot, I asked Pipes for an update. As Pipes goes, so may many in his milieu; it matters. So: NeverTrump, or Never Again?

Dan Perry: A few months after you wrote that article in Newsweek we got Trump's historic refusal to concede his loss to Joe Biden, his attempt to shake down election officials to find him votes, his fomenting of conspiracy theories about a stolen election, his attempt to get Vice President Pence to refuse to ratify the results of said election, and the deadly January 6th invasion and riot. So holy mackerel, Daniel Pipes! Where does this leave you today? Ready to vote for him again?