Two Kinds of Patriotism

Trump and DeSantis represent different brands of patriotism

• Trump and DeSantis represent different factions on the Right

• One group, represented by Trump, is sentimental and nationalistic; the other, represented by DeSantis, is principled

• Principled patriots are required to save and rebuild the Republic

• Trump is not my pick, but he’s infinitely better than any Democrat

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Trump and DeSantis represent different factions

The Trump/DeSantis competition is about more than the men themselves, it’s about an ongoing feud within the American political Right.

This isn’t a blood feud like the one between Republicans and Democrats, of course. Both sides here are patriotic. Both revere America’s founders and the documents they wrote; both oppose the Left’s communist agenda; both fly the flag, salute the flag, get choked up during the Anthem, thank military members for their service, and so on. From an outsider’s perspective, they appear indistinguishable, but a rift appears when we examine their respective brands of patriotism.

Nationalistic patriotism

The hardcore Trump supporter has a sentimental form of patriotism. He considers his national heritage to be no less significant than his family heritage — both inextricable parts of his identity. He proudly embraces the label of “nationalist” despite its political baggage, and exhibits a fierce loyalty to both his country and those leaders he believes have its best interest at heart.

The danger in such loyalty, however, is that it is subjective — anchored to emotion, not principle. The nationalist patriot loves his country not primarily because it is good but because it is his, a position best summed up by the popular phrase “My country, right or wrong.” But as G. K. Chesterton noted:

“My country, right or wrong,” is a thing that no patriot would think of saying. It is like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.”

Chesterton’s point is that the difference between right and wrong is hardly insignificant. In fact, it is considerably more significant than nationality. Nationalism may direct our loyalties but morality is needed to direct our behaviors. It was nationalism unconstrained by morality that gave us the notorious atrocities of Nazi Germany and imperial Japan. And as we learned from the subsequent trials at Nuremberg, men loyal to country but liberated from conscience will not question any order given to them, no matter how inhumane.

The particular danger in the Right’s MAGA faction, though, is not so much its nationalism as its resemblance to a personality cult. While the MAGAs clearly believe that Trump is good for America, they also seem to believe that only Trump is good for America. Thus, their goal is a Trump presidency, not necessarily a good presidency. My candidate, right or wrong.

A loss for Trump, whether to DeSantis or a Democrat, is seen as a loss regardless; there is no accounting for the qualitative difference between the two. This is why, even as the Democrats intentionally drive us to civil war, nuclear war, starvation, destitution, financial slavery, medical experimentation, political and religious persecution, and an all-encompassing police state, Trump and his supporters¹ are busy launching attacks against DeSantis — a man who happens to share many of their own beliefs. From their perspective, though, DeSantis’ problem isn’t that he’s a bad candidate, it’s that he isn’t Trump.

Principled patriotism

In contrast to nationalistic patriotism is principled patriotism, best embodied by Ron DeSantis. This love of country is derived from a love of the country’s principles. There is still a sentimental aspect at play, of course — man has a natural affection for his homeland — but the overriding contention is that patriotism must be earned. In the words of Edmund Burke:

To make us love our country, our country ought to be lovely.

Because the principled patriot is anchored to fixed moral standards instead of sentiment, he enjoys several benefits over his nationalistic counterpart:

1. He is more resistant to personality cults: Instead of chasing after charismatic (and potentially corrupt) leaders, the principled patriot stakes out his moral position and demands that political leaders come to him.

2. He is more resistant to sophistry: By subjecting all claims — regardless of their source — to factual and logical analysis, he is less susceptible to being deceived by hot takes, manipulations of terminology, confirmation bias, and logical fallacies.

3. He is more resistant to emotional manipulation: By subordinating passion to morality, he is slower to act out of anger and less prone to perverting justice in the name of empathy.

4. He is more resistant to social and political pressure: Because his standards are explicit and objective, he is less prone to falling for fallacies when they become fashions (Chesterton, again). Consider how many of today’s Republicans have no qualms with such things as massive spending or “homosexual marriage.” These would have been anathema to the Party fewer than 20 years ago, yet relentless pressure has succeeded in causing nearly all but the principled patriots to embrace the Left’s positions on these issues.

5. His attacks are highly effective: By targeting essential rather than superficial differences, a principled patriot is able to reveal the critical flaws in his opponent’s position rather than engaging in petty antics such as name-calling.

Unlike the nationalists, principled patriots could, if needed, create this country all over again because they understand our founding principles, why these were necessary, and how they led to the free, safe, and prosperous nation we so recently knew. In many ways, recreating the country is exactly what’s needed. We’ve strayed so far from our founding that I fear we bear a closer resemblance to Communist China than the constitutional republic we were meant to be. Should we by God’s grace get the opportunity to impact the US at a foundational level, we are going to need principled men and women to oversee the rebuilding effort.

The perfect is not enemy of the good

Having now given a good thrashing to the Trump contingent, let me be clear that we mustn’t make the mistake of pitting the perfect against the good. Even though I believe a principled leader like DeSantis is superior to Trump in every way, I’m willing to accept a half-measure like Trump because:

• We live in a fallen world, so there is no perfect option on the ballot.

• We exist in time. It may be necessary to compromise on a leader like Trump in the short term in order to survive long enough to get a better leader in the long term.

• A patriot of any stripe is better than any Democrat because he at least is not committed to the Left’s agenda of American destruction.

Whether Trump or DeSantis, all is not lost. At least insofar as this race is concerned. America, as Chesterton noted, is the only nation founded on a creed, so it is inherently American to hold to at least some set of principles, even for those patriots of the nationalistic variety.

We saw this adherence to principle when Trump was, on numerous occasions, booed by his own people for touting the COVID vaccines (he has since learned his lesson). For all their loyalty, it turns out that there is a line that even hardcore MAGA supporters will not allow their man to cross, and we should all take comfort in knowing that even in such a captive setting, the people still demand the right to correct their errant leader.

1. Flash mob of Trump supporters rally outside DeSantis event

Trump supporter crashes DeSantis book signing