National Review columnist Mona Charen dared to dissent from the orthodoxy of the Republican party and speak the truth Saturday on the CPAC stage. For that she was booed and had to be escorted out of the hall. Here’s what she said to incur conservative wrath. Patheos:
“I’m actually gonna twist this around a bit and say that I’m disappointed in people on our side,” Charen said. “For being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women who are in our party. Who are sitting in the White House. Who brag about their extramarital affairs. Who brag about mistreating women. And because he happens to have an R after his name, we look the other way, we don’t complain.”
She continued: “This is a party that was ready to endorse — the Republican Party endorsed Roy Moore, for the Senate in the state of Alabama even though he was a credibly accused child molester. You can not claim that you stand for women and put up with that.” (At this point, several attendees began shouting things like “Not true!” and “It was a witch hunt!”)
Later in the discussion, Charen criticized CPAC itself, for inviting far right French politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen to speak. “I think the only reason she was here is because she’s named Le Pen,” Charen said. “And the Le Pen name is a disgrace. Her grandfather is a racist and a Nazi. She claims that she stands for him. And the fact that CPAC invited her is a disgrace.” (She was loudly booed.)
Charen said that she didn’t feel that she was in such danger that she needed to be escorted from the hall and she was actually surprised to see the security guards. As she left, she said, a number of people gave her a thumbs up. She spoke today on MSNBC, elaborated on creeping Trumpism and criticized Trump in no uncertain terms. RawStory:
“This drift that had begun before Trump, and has been rapidly accelerated since Trump is one where we are now — we traditional conservatives now find ourselves in the strange position of having to defend not this or that public policy so much as elemental decency, acting like a grown-up, and just adhering to civility,” Charen explained.
“Do you think your words reached anyone, resonated with anyone?” host Gilcrest.
“I hope so. I believe so,” she replied. “I’ve gotten tremendous response since then on social media and it seems to have struck a nerve. I’ve been so frustrated over the last two years watching so many leaders of the conservative movement and leaders of the Republican Party sort of fold to Trumpism. I’m just waiting to see if anybody will stand up and tell the simple truth that this is somebody who is not deserving of our admiration, that he should be criticized, that he should not be treated as some sort of moral leader.”
There is a difference between conservatives and wing nuts and apparently Mona Charen is as sick of the wing nuts as we are.