The Three Bolton Problem
Good Republicans are having a hard time with Trump’s vendetta against John Bolton.
1. Good Conservatives
After the FBI raided John Bolton’s house last Friday, Good Conservatives were confronted with a conundrum.
The root of the problem is that Bolton is one of their own.
Bolton both hates Democrats and is a fervent, unrelenting hawk—and hatred of Democrats and hawkish foreign policy are the twin cornerstones of the Good Republican worldview.
How much does Bolton hate Democrats? In 2024 Kamala Harris overlapped with Bolton’s foreign policy views by (give or take) 70 percent. She was running against Donald Trump, whose views on foreign policy and the American-led international order run largely counter to Bolton’s. Also, Trump was making noises about getting revenge on people such as Bolton.
Even in this environment, Bolton could not bring himself to vote for the Democrat.1
When Good Republicans look at Bolton, they think, There, but by the grace of God.
Why? Because the only reason Bolton is in this position and they’re not is because he had the misfortune of working directly for Trump.2
And yet, Bolton now created a problem, since he could not be dismissed as a Never Trump cuck. What were the Good Republicans, who have long since accommodated themselves to Trump, supposed to do?
So far, they’ve come up with three strategies.
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