If Trumpism had an intellectual home, it would be the Claremont Institute.
Claremont is a small but influential conservative think tank, tucked away in Southern California. It publishes the Claremont Review of Books, a leading journal of right-wing intellectuals, particularly those influenced by the 20th-century philosopher Leo Strauss.
You might recall an infamous viral essay from 2016 comparing America to Flight 93, a reference to the hijacked plane on 9/11 in which passengers stormed the cockpit. That piece, published by Claremont, told readers they faced a choice in November 2016: “charge the cockpit or you die.” In other words, vote for Donald Trump or watch the republic burn.
The “Flight 93” essay is the most well-known thing Claremont has published, and probably the most provocative, but it’s also aligned with the institution’s broader mission. Over the past four years, Claremont has tried to put intellectual meat on the bones of Trumpism. They may not like Trump, the guy, but they’ve worked hard to provide a theoretical framework for his politics.
The editor of the Claremont Review, and really the face of the institution, is Charles Kesler. A professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College (which is unaffiliated with the Claremont Institute), Kesler is what I’d call a measured thinker. He supported Trump but was always very careful about how he expressed it.
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