Posted at Hartmann Report on Jan. 20, 2026
Is “Conservative Values” the Lie That Made Trump Possible?
How the Language of Morality Became a Cover for Fear and Power
For decades, Americans have been told that "conservative values" stood for restraint, responsibility, and respect for the rule of law. The rise of Donald Trump forces an unavoidable question: were those values abandoned, or were they a generational lie that made his authoritarian takeover possible?
The billionaires and CEOs funding Trump and the Republicans in Congress believe they're invincible. They believe the GOP's abandonment of the principles that animated John McCain and Mitt Romney in favor of authoritarianism and oligarchy will keep them fat and happy.
They're wrong.
Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh said something on my radio program yesterday that would have been shocking just a few years ago but now is becoming increasingly self-evident to anybody with a conscience and an honest view of American politics and history.