We’ve got Never-Trumpers, “43 Alumni for Biden,” and other conservatives out there who not only oppose President Donald Trump but are publicly supporting Joe Biden for president. In order to justify their anti-Trump positions, they’ve convinced themselves that Joe Biden is a moderate who, if elected, will govern from the center.
For example, the mission of 43 Alumni for Biden is to “unite and mobilize a community of historically Republican voters who are dismayed and disappointed by the damage done to our nation by Donald Trump’s presidency.” According to the 43 Alumni for Biden FAQ, “many” of these former Bush administration officials “remain Republicans.” The group acknowledges that there “may be policy differences among us,” but they look forward to “a time when civil, honest and robust policy discussions are the order of the day.”
And they think that will happen with Joe Biden? Have they forgotten how few “civil, honest and robust policy discussions” there were during the Obama-Biden administration? Have they forgotten how the 2009 stimulus and Obamacare were passed with virtually no Republican input or support? Or how Joe Biden was part of an administration that legislated via executive action rather than work with the GOP-lead Congress on compromise legislation?
It’s time to be honest here about these Never-Trumpers, 43 Alumni for Biden, and the rest of them. They aren’t choosing civility over division, or leadership over chaos. Heck, they aren’t even choosing country over party, because if they were actually conservative they’d recognize that as much as they may not like President Trump’s style, he’s delivered on an ambitious conservative agenda and is the country’s only hope to ensure that a conservative agenda continues over the next four years.
5. Law and Order
Conservatives support the Constitution and law and order. They’re outraged over police brutality, but don’t condone rioting, damaging public and private property, and looting.
Do Never-Trumpers believe in law and order? Do they support the police? Joe Biden supports defunding the police. He’s literally on video supporting this. Biden’s lack of support for the police is apparent by the fact that the National Association of Police Organization (NAPO), which represents over a thousand police unions and 241,000 police officers, endorsed President Trump’s reelection last month, citing Trump’s “steadfast and very public support” for law enforcement. NAPO previously endorsed Joe Biden for vice president in 2008 and 2012.
4. Social Policy
Can you be pro-life and support Joe Biden? While pro-life Republicans may point to Biden’s somewhat moderate abortion record of the past, his abortion positions have shifted further and further to the left in recent years. Last year he buckled under pressure by the abortion lobby into reversing his position on the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding of abortions. In addition to his support for federal funding of abortions, he also supports abortion up to the moment of birth. Joe Biden has pledged that his judicial nominees will “support the right of privacy, on which the entire notion of a woman’s right to choose is based.” Does anyone really believe he plans to find a middle ground on abortion after embracing the most radical positions on abortion to win the 2020 Democratic primary?
The Obama-Biden years saw a major transformation in social norms, as they threatened to take Title IX funding away from schools that didn’t allow biological boys to play girls’ sports and use girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, placing the desires of a select few over the privacy and safety of young girls. President Trump has reversed this policy at the federal level, but Joe Biden will for sure bring it back. He has said that “there is no room for compromise” on transgender issues, which he claims is the “civil rights issue of our time.”
Joe Biden also doesn’t believe in religious liberty and has pledged to “reverse” last month’s Supreme Court ruling preventing religious organizations from being forced, against their faith, to cover the cost of contraception for their employees.
3. Economic Policy and Deregulation
Do economic conservatives who consider themselves Never-Trumpers think that anything resembling conservative economic policy will ever be signed by President Joe Biden? Have they forgotten how Barack Obama and Joe Biden rammed through the 2009 stimulus and Obamacare without Republican input or support? Do they think Joe Biden would ever sign a tax cut? Do they really think that a Biden administration will continue the Trump administration’s historic deregulation, or the Obama administration’s historic regulation? Joe Biden supports a $15-per-hour minimum wage, “studying” reparations for slavery, two years of free college, freezing federal oil and gas drilling permits, raising taxes on Americans, including increasing the capital gains tax rate—and don’t get me started on China.
2. The VP Factor
Never-Trump Republicans may have convinced themselves that Joe Biden is a moderate (he’s not, but I’ll get to that) but his running mate most certainly will not be. The top contenders for his pick include Kamala Harris, Susan Rice, Elizabeth Warren, Gretchen Whitmer, and other notoriously liberal politicians. One top contender, Karen Bass, eulogized former Communist Party USA official Oneil Marion Cannon in 2017. That such a person is even a contender should be a red flag to Never-Trumpers and 43 Alumni for Biden that the man they plan to vote for is going to shift this country farther to the left.
But there’s another issue here. Many believe that Biden’s advanced age and apparent cognitive decline make it extremely likely that, if elected, he won’t serve out a full term. His vice president would, through presidential succession, become the president of the United States, should Biden have to step down or be removed from office via the 25 Amendment. So, considering the slate of candidates Biden is considering, a vote for Biden is as much a vote for his running mate as it is for him. Maybe Never-Trumpers have deluded themselves into believing that Biden is a moderate, but his running mate will be anything but.
1. The Supreme Court and the Judiciary
The next four years will likely see at least one, and probably two Supreme Court vacancies. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is often seen as the most likely vacancy to occur because of her poor health. While a liberal president replacing a liberal justice wouldn’t change the balance of the court, there are rumors that conservative Justice Samuel Alito is considering retirement. What kind of person do they expect Joe Biden to nominate to the Supreme Court—someone who will have an influential roll on the highest court in the country for years to come? Biden has said he’d nominate Barack Obama to the Supreme Court if he would be willing to do the job, and that should tell you all you need to know. Just as Biden has promised to nominate pro-choice judges to the judiciary, any potential Supreme Court nominees he’ll consider will have had to pass a left-wing litmus test.
President Trump, however, has been filling judiciary vacancies at a record pace, shifting the balance of various courts, and giving us two conservatives Supreme Court justices. He’s proven himself to be dedicated to ending judicial activism in favor of constitutional conservative judges and justices. A Biden presidency will end all that. A Biden victory will likely also come with the Senate flipping to Democrat control. After Trump’s record pace at filling vacancies, you can bet it will be a priority for a Biden administration to fill vacancies at an equal or greater pace. A vote for Biden is a vote for swinging the judiciary back to the left. No conservative could support that.
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Matt Margolis is the author of the new book Airborne: How The Liberal Media Weaponized The Coronavirus Against Donald Trump, and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
