Responding to a post about "Never Trump" Republicans changing their stances about Donald Trump, a conservative commentator ripped the president for letting "phonies totally hijack his administration."
The exchange began on X when the official account for The American Conservative shared a clip from an interview with libertarian podcaster Dave Smith. In it, he remarked on the much-discussed phenomenon whereby Trump's past critics have softened their stances on him considerably over the years, with some now emerging as some of his most prominent supporters. He even went so far as to say that these individuals have "come to define" Trump's second term in the White House.
"So many of the Never Trumpers have come to define his presidency," Smith said. "If you remember back in 2016, the war-hawks, kind of Israel-Firster Republican crowd, the neo-cons and all of them, they hated Donald Trump. Hated him with a passion. Ben Shapiro was a Never Trumper. He said because of his deeply held principles, he could never support Donald Trump."
While not mentioned by Smith, some previous critics have come to serve in major positions in Trump's cabinet. During his own 2016 campaign for president, Marco Rubio called Trump a con artist, but later fell in line with his agenda, along with the rest of the GOP. Now, he is serving as Trump's second-term Secretary of State, having substantial influence over the president's military interventions overseas, particularly in Venezuela.
He continued: "Mark Levin was a Never Trumper. All of National Review, all of them. And now, they are the biggest Trump supporters ever, as he's kind of blown up the coalition."
Smith himself voted for Trump in 2024, but has turned on him considerably since he first launched airstrikes against Iran last summer. A staunch anti-interventionalist, Smith called for Trump's impeachment over the strikes at the time.
Matt Lewis is a conservative commentator known for his anti-Trump stances. In response to the clip from Smith's interview, he wondered what it says about the strength of Trump's leadership that he has allowed so many "phonies" into his administration.
"Why would Trump let these phonies totally hijack his administration?" Lewis posted. "Wouldn’t a good/strong leader like not allow that?"
Why would Trump let these phonies totally hijack his administration? Wouldn’t a good/strong leader like not allow that? https://t.co/mvpJeq5Py1
— Matt Lewis (@mattklewis) March 27, 2026