5 Feet of Fury

James E. Miller: Say, remember when National Review purged the Birchers…?

James E. Miller writes:

I’m not trying to be cruel here (though cruelty is probably deserved in this case), but karma is in order. Two of NR’s leading voices brought this on. First is senior editor Jonah Goldberg, who has mocked Trump’s political aspirations for years. In fact, according to a report by Buzzfeed’s McKay Coppins, Goldberg may have provided the impetus for Trump to take the deep dive into the presidential race.

Days before Trump’s fateful descent down the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his far-fetched bid, Goldberg penned a piece brushing off the amateur candidate. “He’s a more plausible candidate than, say, Honey Boo Boo, but that’s mostly because of constitutional age limits,” he snarked at the time. Trump reportedly read the piece, and when he got to the Goldberg insult, he turned to then adviser Sam Nunberg and asked, “Why don’t they respect me, Sam?” His small team convinced Trump that the best way to retaliate was to run and prove the critics wrong.