I don’t know of any conservative columnist or publication that has anything good to say about Donald Trump. The Economist bashes him on a weekly basis. National Review devoted an entire issue to pieces attacking him. David Brooks, Ross Douthat, Michael Gerson, George Will, and Jennifer Rubin clearly all despise him. Even Charles Krauthammer, a dependable source of thoughtless hard right-wing tripe, has been critical. And yet, there he stands. What are the pundits to do?
The first thing you need to realize is that, unlike other GOP politicians, conservative columnists are unlikely to pay much of a price for their disloyalty. It is unlikely that many strong Trump supporters read the NYT, or even the Washington Post, so it isn’t as if Brooks, just to use one example, is likely to lose his job for his apostacy. Being a Trump opponent might reduce the number of parties to which you’re invited, but that’s about it, particularly since even the insiders reconciled to Trump obviously have concerns about him, as well.
If I were in this group, I would avoid commenting directly on the election and just write in the abstract about conservative principles, which is exactly what I think they will do.
Talk radio is a completely different story. More on that at a later date.