Trump supporters need a 'very bad burn' to snap out of their delusion: conservative

President Donald Trump poses such a threat to American democracy and international security that the people who still support him need a “very bad burn” to snap out of their delusion, a prominent conservative columnist argued on Tuesday.

Observing that he was criticized for expressing glee at the prospect of the Iran war increasing energy prices, leading to job losses, hurting the stock market, exacerbating inflation and causing rising drug prices, The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last explained he does not take joy in vulnerable people suffering.

The problem is that, like a child which must learn to avoid extreme heat by touching a hot stove, America must learn the dangers of far right politicians by being exposed to the harsh consequences of their policies.

“At root, there are only two possible explanations for the Trump era,” Last explained. “A controlling plurality of Americans affirmatively want Trump and the Republican party’s post-liberal, authoritarian vision. Or, Americans don’t want post-liberalism—not really. They don’t even know what post-liberalism means. They’ve just voted for Trump because his terrible governance hasn’t impacted their lives. If they felt the real-world consequences of Trumpism, then they’d reject its illiberalism.”

If it is indeed the latter scenario, which Last said he hopes is the case, “our fellow Americans are capable of changing their minds from getting burnt by the stove,” meaning “we are all going to have to absorb the pain.”

He added, “I say: Bring it on. Because what’s the alternative?” In fact, Last pointed out, it is quite possible that Trump has administered so many little shocks to the American body politics — a January 6th insurrection here, blatant conflicts of interest there, constant lying, a proven link with a convicted child sex trafficker (one of whose victims accused him of sexual assault) — that “what we need is a true shock to the system,” Last opined, “bad outcomes so far outside the normative window that voters rebel and wake up to the reality of what they’ve been excusing and accepting.”

He concluded, “In which case a very bad burn is exactly what we (as a society) need—even if it means pain being dealt to many people who don’t deserve it.” For those who fear Trump might use the military to stay in power illegitimately, Last offered one last hopeful note.

“One of my worries about 2026 and 2028 is that Trump might try to use the U.S. military to assist in overturning the results of an election—and that he would have a sympathetic core of senior officers at the Pentagon,” Last wrote. “The Iran war makes this less likely. I suspect professional soldiers are spooked by Trump’s utter incompetence. No minimally competent officer could look at the president’s conduct during this war and think, ‘Yes, I should violate my oath to the Constitution to help this guy stay in power.’”

Last is not alone among conservatives calling out Trump’s bad behavior and saying it will eventually disgust and/or harm his constituents.

“Voters are rarely able to connect policy to outcomes, but they have done so in the case of tariffs,” The Bulwark’s Mona Charen recently wrote. “Back in 2024, Americans were about equally divided on the question of trade, with some favoring higher tariffs and roughly similar numbers opting for lower tariffs. Experience has changed their views.”

Similarly bro-MAGA influencer Joe Rogan, one of the president’s biggest supporters during the 2024 presidential election, has harshly criticized the president for things like invading Iran despite running as an antiwar candidate.

“But it just seems so insane based on what he ran on,” Rogan said. “I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on no more wars and these stupid senseless wars, and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense to me – unless we’re acting on someone else’s interests, like particularly Israel’s interests,” Rogan added. “It just didn’t make any sense to me.”

He also was upset about Trump’s links to Epstein.

“Like, what is this? This is not good. None of this is good for this administration,” Rogan said. “It looks f—— terrible. It looks terrible.”