Conservative icons say ideological purity less important than leadership.
Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan delivered a one-two punch Friday against the National Review, which has used its latest issue to launch a full-scale effort to take out GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
The magazine includes essays from conservative writers who argue that Trump would be a disastrous nominee for president and that he lacks authenticity as a true conservative. Appearing on “The Laura Ingraham Show” on Friday, Schlafly swatted away those complaints.
“National Review is not the authentic conservative,” said Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum. “You know (magazine founder) Bill Buckley was for giving away the Panama Canal, which was an enormous issue with conservatives. And in 10 years, they never wrote a single article about the Equal Rights Amendment. So they were no help against that. So I don’t recognize National Review as the authority on conservatism.”
Buchanan, who worked in the Reagan White House and ran a pair anti-Establishment races for president in the Republican primaries that resembled Trump’s current campaign, said during a separate appearance on the show that Schlafly’s support for Trump serves as rebuke to the billionaire’s critics.
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