Former ‘Never Trump’ conservative columnist endorses Trump in 2020

Conservative columnist Erick Erickson, who declared himself “Never Trump” during the 2016 election, endorsed President Trump for reelection in 2020 on Monday.

In a column on his site, The Resurgent, Erickson writes that some of his concerns about Trump remain, but that the president and Vice President Pence have “earned [his] vote.” 

“I still struggle on the character issue and I understand Christian friends who would rather sit it out than get involved,” Erickson writes. “But I also recognize that we cannot have the Trump Administration policies without President Trump and there is much to like.”

The columnist says he voted third-party in 2016, but that “the path of opting out or protesting now … seems irrelevant.”

Three years ago this week, I declared myself #NeverTrump in 2016. Today, I’m endorsing President Trump and Vice President Pence for re-election in 2020 and am glad to help them on the trail as needed during Campaign 2020. https://t.co/7Tan0AUqhO

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 11, 2019

Erickson praises Trump on a number of policy issues, including tax reform, regulatory rollbacks, moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and withdrawing the nation from the Paris climate pact.

{mosads}He also says, however, he will not stay “silent” on criticism of the president, adding that he has “ongoing concerns on tariffs, the national direction on North Korea, and other issues.”

“No President is perfect,” Erickson writes. “Some are badly flawed. In 2020, we’ll be asked to choose between a set of sinners and must decide which direction we want to go as a nation.”

In the column, he tears into the group of potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates as “too extreme for the nation,” and criticizes the Democratic Party for their stance on abortion, gun ownership, religion and other topics, including their environmental policies.

He also echoes Trump’s criticism of the media as an “anti-Trump operation,” saying, “The daily litany of misreported and badly reported stories designed to paint this Administration in a negative light continues to amaze me.”

Erickson ends his endorsement by saying he is “not looking for a messiah in politics.”

“While I understand and accept the sincere conviction of some of my friends who have decided they will just sit out the process, I have decided otherwise,” he writes. “In 2016, we knew who the Democrats were and were not sure of who Donald Trump was. Now we know both and I prefer this President to the alternative.”