To the Editor of the Wall Street Journal:
Kevin D. Williamson located "five tribes of the anti-Trump right" ["Where Do Never Trumpers Go From Here?" Oct.11]. May this Never-Trumper, who left the Republican party when Donald Trump was nominated, point out a sixth? That is, we who hold our collective nose and vote for him.
One can find Trump repellant as a human being, deem him wildly unsuited for the presidency, revel in the lawsuits against him, and despair of the conservative movement – yet still conclude, faced with a binary choice, that he is preferable to Kamala Harris. Personally, I have two main reasons for doing so.
First, each of us has his priority issues: mine are the cultural wars and foreign policy (i.e., not economics nor abortion). On every cultural issue, from public toilets to systemic racism, Trump's views (and judicial nominees) are far closer to mine. Foreign relations are more complex, with Harris being better on Ukraine and NATO, Trump better on Iran and Israel. As a whole, then, I prefer Trump's policies.
Second, although we tend to see presidential elections as High-Noon-style shoot-outs between two individuals, large presidential teams run the executive branch's three million employees. Here too, the Republican squad comes closer to my views than the Democratic one.
Accordingly, while emotionally I identify as a Never-Trumper, practically, I vote for Trump.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Pipes
