Michael Gerson’s Descent Into Liberalism
5th July 2022
Not all pro-lifers are happy with the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. In a column at the Washington Post, former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson acknowledges that Roe was “poorly argued,” but says he is “more comfortable with the gradualism” recommended by Chief Justice John Roberts. Gerson ends even more soberly: “The abortion debate — with all its tragic complexities — has been returned to the realm of democracy. And there is little evidence our democracy is prepared for it.” Why? Because the “GOP has become captive to an ideology of power.”
Anyone who has been following Gerson over the years will not be surprised by these comments. The Wheaton-educated evangelical has been repudiating his former friends on the right, particularly over their support for former President Trump, whom Gerson has spent more than half a decade relentlessly attacking. The Bush speechwriter who gave the right such phrases as “the soft bigotry of low expectations,” “axis of evil,” and “compassionate conservatism” is now decidedly on the left.
Trump appears to have that effect on people.