Douthat Some day the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice. MAGA!
French No one — not even Ron DeSantis — hates your enemies as much as Donald Trump.
Goldberg He’s probably inevitable, and if he doesn’t win the primaries, he’ll sabotage whoever does, so if you want a Republican White House you need to get on board.
Hemmer He has the biggest base of support in the Republican Party, and his supporters would do anything — anything — for him.
Last “I am your retribution” works pretty nicely. But watch how Trump demagogues very accessible issues: inflation, war, economic uncertainty (like bank failures). He’s not in the weeds with E.S.G.-D.E.I.-C.R.T. gobbledygook. He’s a much more skilled demagogue than anyone else in the race. But this only works because Republicans don’t need to get to 50 percent plus 1. They need to get between only 46 percent and 48 percent of the vote to have a good chance to win the presidency.
Mangu-Ward You already know all the worst stuff, so vote for him if you still like him.
McCarthy Trump delivered on Roe and judges, he reformed and cut taxes, he advanced Middle East peace, he started no wars he couldn’t finish, he toughened attitudes toward China, he restrained immigration, and he was a great jobs president. He’s proven he can win, and he does what Republicans are elected to do.
David Brooks, Ross Douthat, David French and Michelle Goldberg are Times columnists.
Frank Bruni is a professor of journalism and public policy at Duke University, the author of the book “The Beauty of Dusk” and a contributing Opinion writer.
Michelle Cottle (@mcottle) is a member of the Times’s editorial board.
Jane Coaston is a Times Opinion writer.
Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) is an associate professor of history and director of the Rogers Center for the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University and the author of “Partisans: The Conservative Revolutionaries Who Remade American Politics in the 1990s.”
Jonathan V. Last (@JVLast) is the editor of The Bulwark.
Katherine Mangu-Ward (@kmanguward) is the editor in chief of Reason magazine.
Daniel McCarthy is the editor of “Modern Age: A Conservative Review.”