A Plea to Republicans
“It’s human nature to tie yourself to a leader as much for the services you’ve done him as the good he’s done you.” —Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Chapter 10
A Plea to My Beautiful Republican Friends:
We need your help. We all do.
Our nation is in a dangerous place. The constitutional safeguards we rely on to check the ambitions of our President are fraying—some are already gone. Let me be direct: governance under President Trump is authoritarian in character. He has worked relentlessly to remove impediments to his control. He has wielded not only the full powers of the office, but also the powers of rhetoric, party loyalty, and media influence. Doing this much is not the decisive issue. The problem is that he has also employed legal intimidation, and has targeted judges, governors, universities, news organizations, and prosecutors. If unchecked, our electoral systems and civil liberties will be next—and “next” is now.
That may sound like the hysterical rant of an alarmist. And if that’s your first reaction, here’s what I hope: I hope you’re right, and I’m wrong. I hope the years of study I’ve poured into this topic are misguided. I would much rather be embarrassed for sounding extreme on social media than be proven right by a national catastrophe.
But if you do think I’m unhinged, I suspect it’s for one of three reasons.
First, perhaps you see nothing new here. Didn’t Presidents Obama and Biden also push executive power to the limit? Didn’t Obama issue unconstitutional executive orders on immigration? Didn’t Biden try to forgive $400 billion in student loans without congressional authorization? Where was the outrage then? Why now?
Second, maybe Trump’s actions don’t bother you because they substantively align with your policy preferences. He campaigned on tariffs, law and order, and border enforcement. He won the election—this time, even the popular vote. Isn’t he simply keeping his promises, something Democrats rarely do? Are we really supposed to get worked up because the IRS is a little less comfortable? Isn’t this just a policy dispute dressed up as a constitutional crisis?
Third, perhaps his actions don’t feel threatening because they haven’t touched your life. You’re here legally. You’re not a snobby professor with the privilege of tenure, or a whiny journalist, or a civil rights lawyer. You’ve worked hard and earned your place. You trust that Trump won’t come for you.
Neither of the first two points is entirely baseless.
Recent presidents from both parties have pushed—and sometimes exceeded—constitutional boundaries. That abuse should be called out wherever it occurs. If Democrats only care about overreach when the other team does it, their complaints ring hollow.
And yes, elections do have consequences. Policy victories like shrinking federal agencies or cutting taxes don’t necessarily signal a constitutional crisis. I may disagree with those policies, but they’re part of the democratic process—not a threat to it.
But as for the last point—your sense of security—I genuinely hope you’re right. I pray your trust is well-placed. But here’s where I believe you can make the greatest difference—and why we need your help so desperately.
Despite past abuses from both parties, we are now witnessing something unprecedented: a deliberate, systematic assault—not just on laws, but on the very norms and guardrails that hold the presidency accountable.
We are witnessing an ideology of retribution, of pure vindictiveness, that treats opposition as illegitimate and punishes it ruthlessly. Consider President Trump’s attack on our most iconic institution of higher education, Harvard University, founded in 1636. Frankly, I love hating on Harvard—as most spirited people do. But if I’m going to be honest, I must confess that Harvard is plausibly the single most successful institution of any kind within our nation’s borders. It preceded our nation, and it has been an intellectual haven to the world’s greatest minds. Its contributions to humanity are legion. And it’s taken less than four months for President Trump to effectively threaten its viability as a world-class institution and—like a classic abuser—to demand an apology from it.
Our slide into authoritarianism will not arrive with spectacle or fireworks. It will arrive with congressional votes, court decisions, and executive orders—all under the appearance of legality. And many Americans will mistake this coordinated erosion of checks and balances for legitimate governance, rather than the full-on abdication of constitutional duty these actions signify.
Right now, many in Congress—and not a few judges—fear President Trump more than they fear losing their institution’s authority. Our system only works when each branch jealously guards its own power. Madison wrote that “ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” But that only happens when officeholders believe they have more to gain from defending their institutions than from pleasing the president. Trump has mastered the politics of intimidation. His threats work as well—if not better—against his own party as they do against the opposition.
This is where you come in, my cherished Republican friends.
Republican lawmakers are terrified. Yes, some support Trump unreservedly. But many others support him only cautiously, or provisionally—or not at all. Some disagree with him deeply on constitutional grounds but stay silent because his disapproval could cost them their careers.
They will not act until you give them cover—until millions of Republican constituents tell them that you value free speech, judicial independence, and due process more than President Trump’s regimen of constitutional overreach.
Nothing about your demands requires you to abandon conservatism or the Republican Party. To the contrary, there is nothing “conservative” about abandoning due process. True conservatism fears government overreach. It respects limits. It honors the rule of law. It acknowledges that we live in a nation of competing needs and values. What could be more quintessentially conservative than sober and thoughtful grown-up adults acknowledging that no one in this world gets—or should get—everything they want?
You don’t need to change your ideology. You just need to return to it.
Liberals and Democrats can do very little at this moment. They do not control the presidency, the House, or the Senate. Most states are Republican-governed. The courts are majority Republican-appointed.
If the slide into tyranny is to be stopped, it will be because you stopped it.
And here’s the human truth that Machiavelli grasped, and why I began this plea with his quote: it’s hard to back away from someone we’ve publicly supported. Our endorsements bind us—emotionally, psychologically, relationally—to the people we make them for. I know the feeling. When I discover a student cheats after I’ve written them a letter of recommendation, I struggle to admit it. It feels like a betrayal of me, not just of them, and I am sorely tempted to turn my head, to look away. My success is wrapped up in their own, and it’s hard to acknowledge what has happened.
But I also know this: when you voted for President Trump, you simply wanted more efficient government. You wanted stronger borders. You wanted the nation to stand up for itself. You didn’t vote for Trump because you wanted him to punish universities, silence journalists, or rule by fiat. I believe that because I believe in your character.
I don’t believe you voted for Elon Musk to replace Congress. I don’t believe you hoped Trump would side with Putin over Ukraine. And I don’t believe you wanted a presidency that mocks the very constitutional norms you cherish.
Here’s where it gets personal for me.
If Trump’s power grab continues unchecked, it won’t be stopped just at the ballot box or in the courts. It will eventually spill into the streets, and though it cuts against my every instinct to stay behind a safe screen, I’ll be there on the streets as well. I love my country. Our country was born of protest, and from time to time, it must be defended through protest.
This I fear I must promise you: these protests will be messy. And as with virtually all protests, a few people will go too far. It’s inevitable. And in that moment, President Trump will have his excuse. A single regrettable act—or a handful of regrettable actions carried out by a tiny minority—will become the justification for a full-fledged crackdown. He has already justified dozens of his actions by legally claiming we have an emergency. If President Trump can locate an emergency with regard to sweet and lovely Canada’s posture toward the United States, imagine his wrath when his direct opposition moves in earnest to the street.
The most lawless president in our history will claim ultimate power in the name of “law and order.”
It doesn’t have to go that way. But I truly believe it’s in your hands to prevent it.
I know how much you revere the Constitution. I’m asking you now to honor not just its name—but its practice.
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