{"id":1534,"date":"2026-06-12T22:10:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1534"},"modified":"2026-06-12T22:10:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T22:10:29","slug":"conservative-columnist-torches-trump-cultists-paying-270-to-fill-their-tank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1534","title":{"rendered":"Conservative columnist torches Trump ‘cultists’ paying $270 to fill their tank"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Dispatch\u2018s national correspondent, Kevin D. Williamson, wants to ask Republicans a question.<\/p>\n

Read more Conservative darling delivers harsh reality check to GOP\u2019s midterm confidence<\/a><\/p>\n

He points to the $270 it takes to fill up the tank of a Ford Super Duty truck in his neighborhood \u2014 48 gallons at $5.60 a gallon for diesel \u2014 and asks, \u201cDo you feel smart?\u201d<\/p>\n

Citing a column by The New York Times\u2019 Bret Stephens, Williamson weighs the pros and cons of voters electing candidates to achieve results over voters choosing \u201cparagons of moral rectitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something to be said for that approach,\u201d writes Williamson. \u201cOne of the problems with our politics is that politicians\u2014especially presidents\u2014are treated as embodiments of the nation, the people, and our values, to such an extent that members of a party feel alienated and humiliated when the other party\u2019s leader occupies the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

He concludes that for partisans, \u201cinconvenient facts necessitate a kind of rhetorical two-step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are proud Trump cultists and there are embarrassed Trump cultists, and, if you press one of the latter on Trump\u2019s viciousness\u2014his dishonesty, his infidelity, his venality, his susceptibility to flattery, his inconstancy\u2014he often will retreat into comfortable pragmatism,\u201d Williamson writes.<\/p>\n

They will say they like Trump\u2019s \u201cpolicies,\u201d which, Williamson charges, \u201cmainly indicates the economic conditions coincident with Trump\u2019s first term in office, pre-COVID, which were only to a very minor degree the result of any Trump policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Suspicious Judge imposes threat of perjury on Todd Blanche<\/a><\/p>\n

But press the embarrassed Trump cultist further \u2014 like on the $270 tank fill-up \u2014 and they will \u201cretreat into moralism, albeit a negative kind of moralism based in the perceived deficiencies of the Democrats rather than in any of Trump\u2019s particular moral virtues, which, it is plain, simply do not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Republicans insist Americans \u201cthink of the policies,\u201d Williamson says he wonders \u201cwhat those beneficial policies are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe illegally initiated and incompetently executed war in Iran that is the proximate cause of that $270 diesel bill? The obviously<\/em> criminal massacres of civilians on the high seas? The gross self-dealing and corruption? The elevation of wildly unqualified yes-men such as Bill Pulte to high office? The deepening debt? The rising<\/em> inflation?\u201d<\/p>\n

Williamson says that they like the policies, \u201cExcept<\/em> for the inflation, and the trade chaos, and the war, and the corruption, and the enshrinement of utter incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that you \u201ccan two-step around reality any way you like, but the fact is that right now Republicans are offering both Ken Paxton and $5.60 diesel. And so I repeat the question to my Republican friends: \u2018Do you feel smart<\/em>?’\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Sundowning Trump is suffering his \u2018Saddam statue\u2019 moment<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dispatch\u2018s national correspondent, Kevin D. Williamson, wants to ask Republicans a question.He points to the $270 it takes to fill up the tank of a Ford Super Duty truck in his neighborhood \u2014 48 gallons at $5.60 a gallon for diesel \u2014 and asks, \u201cDo you feel smart?\u201dCiting a column by The New York …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nConservative columnist torches Trump 'cultists' paying $270 to fill their tank - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conservative columnist torches Trump 'cultists' paying $270 to fill their tank - Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Dispatch\u2018s national correspondent, Kevin D. Williamson, wants to ask Republicans a question.He points to the $270 it takes to fill up the tank of a Ford Super Duty truck in his neighborhood \u2014 48 gallons at $5.60 a gallon for diesel \u2014 and asks, \u201cDo you feel smart?\u201dCiting a column by The New York ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=1534\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Address America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T22:10:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a4840e0eb2094ec31aed2107d53108b3\"},\"headline\":\"Conservative columnist torches Trump ‘cultists’ paying $270 to fill their tank\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T22:10:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4f7fdf29e3d3a86a73bc244f0cce46ba.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextaddressamerica.com\\\/?p=1534\",\"name\":\"Conservative columnist torches Trump 'cultists' paying $270 to fill their tank - 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