MAGA Isn’t Conservatism; It’s Treason, by Mike Johnson’s Own Words.
In 2018, Johnson outlined seven core conservative values—today, MAGA tramples each one, proving this movement is not conservative, not patriotic, and not American.
In 2018, House Speaker Mike Johnson (then U.S. Congressman Johnson) drafted a short summary of what he called the “7 Core Principles of Conservatism.” According to his office, many conservative organizations and lawmaking bodies across the country went on to adopt this list as their own guiding framework. These were not fringe talking points, but the movement’s supposed bedrock—freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, fiscal responsibility, free markets, and human dignity.
There’s just one problem: the MAGA movement, of which Johnson himself is now a leader, is openly and repeatedly betraying every single one of those principles.
The 7 Core Principles Johnson Lays Out
1. Individual Freedom - In America, we proclaim the self-evident truths that all of us are created equal and granted by God the same inherent freedoms, such as the natural and unalienable rights to life, liberty, conscience, free speech and the free exercise of religion, and the ability to pursue happiness, own property, build wealth and defend ourselves and our families. The purpose of government is to secure these rights, and the ideas we advance should always aim to maintain and increase the liberty of the American people.
It sounds great on paper, doesn't it? Unfortunately, individual freedoms have most definitely been under attack since Trump returned to office. You've got the administration's wide-ranging crackdown on freedom of speech by targeting student protestors, lawyers and the press. Back at the end of April, Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA stated "One hundred days into his second term, President Trump has led with cruelty and chaos, creating a human rights emergency that has affected millions of people by suppressing dissent, undermining the rule of law, and eroding norms and institutions essential to the protection of human rights."
2. Limited Government - When applied as written, our incomparable Constitution provides important safeguards against government encroachment, a vital separation of powers, and a necessary system of checks and balances. Federalism, decentralized authority, and the elimination of unnecessary regulations and bureaucracy help ensure that government serves the people, and not the other way around. The best protection against government largesse is an engaged and informed electorate.
Now, Mike Johnson is not my Congressman. I don't live in Louisiana, nor am I conservative, so it's not wholly surprising that I disagree with lots of his views. What has always bothered me about Mike Johnson is the sense of betrayal he gives me, as an American citizen.
He has a Juris Doctor degree: He's a literal DOCTOR OF LAW. He was a constitutional lawyer before entering politics.
HE. KNOWS. BETTER. And to have proof that he DOES believe that the separation of powers is vital, while watching him fail to exercise said powers, is painful for freedom-loving citizens to stomach.
3. The Rule of Law - Ours is "a government of laws and not of men," and the rule of law is our foundation. To maintain ordered liberty and a civilized society, public and private virtue should be encouraged and justice must be administered equally and impartially to all. Each branch of government must adhere to the Constitution, and the judicial branch must not be allowed to assume or exercise legislative or executive powers. Transparency and accountability are keys to good government, and Congress must faithfully perform its constitutional responsibility of oversight.
If conservatives really believe this, then WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!?!? Justice is NOT being administered equally! The law is NOT being applied impartially! You know DAMN well that each branch of government is NOT adhering to the Constitution, and seeing the assertion IN WRITING that "Congress must faithfully perform its constitutional responsibility of oversight" is indeed one of your core principles, I find myself asking again... where the hell are you?!?
4. Peace through Strength - We are not “the world’s police force,” but because America serves in a natural role of moral leadership in an increasingly dangerous world, and weakness invites aggression, we must remain the strongest military power on earth—fully prepared and capable of defeating any adversaries, tyrants or terrorists, under any circumstances, at any time. This requires maintaining sufficient investments in our air, land, sea, nuclear, and cyber capabilities to deter foreign aggression, and properly training, equipping, and supporting our troops and their families, as well as our veterans and wounded warriors.
Sure, you've adhered to your belief of fully-funding the strongest war machine there is, but pissing off all our allies and aligning ourselves with the strongmen dictators of the world doesn't sound very peaceful. It was also surprising to hear that America serves in a natural role of moral leadership? That's news to me... it looks a helluva lot like our country has no morals at all; we're denying due process, violating human rights, treating citizens differently based on the color of their skin... the second Trump administration has all but obliterated any claim America may have once had to moral superiority.
5. Fiscal Responsibility - Because government has refused to live within its means, America is facing an unprecedented debt and spending crisis. Federal debt now exceeds $33.5 trillion, and our current fiscal path is unsustainable and dangerous,jeopardizing our nation's economic growth, stability and the security of future generations. Congress has a moral and constitutional duty to resolve the crisis, bring spending under control, balance the federal budget, reform and modernize entitlement programs, eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, pursue continued pro-growth tax reforms and permanent tax reductions, and restore regular order and accountability in the budget and appropriations processes.
NEVER AGAIN. Never again will the Republican party, its MAGA wing, or conservatives in general be able to bitch, whine or moan about the nation's debt. For everything the Trump Tax (OBBBA) takes away from citizens, it *also* piles on trillions more in debt. Y'all showed your asses.
Mike Johnson wrote these principles in 2018 when the debt was $33.5 trillion; Fox Business reported yesterday that it's now topped $37 trillion.
6. Free Markets - We believe competition should be encouraged, and government intervention and regulation should be limited. The people are better qualified to make decisions about their own lives and finances than bureaucrats, and the private sector will outperform the public sector in virtually every scenario. The free enterprise system rewards hard work and self-sacrifice, and is the basis and genius of the American economy.
Mmhhmmm, totally... but then, why isn't Mike Johnson and every member of Congress pushing back on tariffs? Is MAGA pushing back against the Trump administrations' plans to have the United States take an equity stake in Intel, or pointing out to constituents that the President has no business telling a private company who their CEO should be? It's hard to imagine Joe Biden or Barack Obama having done something like this during their tenure without the Freedom Caucus going utterly apesh*t about the looming threat of socialism...
7. Human Dignity - Because all men are created equal and in the image of God, every human life has inestimable dignity and value, and every person should be measured only by the content of their character. A just government protects life, honors marriage and family as the primary institutions of a healthy society, and embraces the vital cultural influences of religion and morality. Public policy should always encourage education and emphasize the virtue of hard work as a pathway out of-poverty, while public assistance programs should be reserved only for those who are truly in need. In America, everyone who plays by the rules should get a fair shot.
We've seen so much hypocrisy from this White House, such blatant cruelty, so many impeachable offenses, that one could understandably overlook the crimes of inaction currently being committed by the U.S. Congress... if not for this final, most precious principle.
The stunning lack of basic human dignity is perhaps the defining characteristic of the second Trump administration. If Mike Johnson (and conservatives at large) *genuinely* believed that all men are created equal and in the image of God, then Mike Johnson (and conservatives at large) would have turned on the Trump administration the moment they sent hundreds of Venezuelans to a torture prison in El Salvador without a trial. They would have heeded the scores of Christian groups (including white evangelicals, mainline protestants and Black church leaders) who all noted that the OBBBA hurts poor Americans more than anybody else.
Main Point:
By their own written standards, Mike Johnson and conservatives once defined the “7 Core Principles of Conservatism” as bedrock American values. Yet under MAGA leadership, every single one of those principles has been violated—from freedom and limited government, to fiscal responsibility and human dignity. What Johnson once put to paper as a guidepost has become an indictment: MAGA has abandoned conservatism itself, and with it, the very American ideals they swore to defend.
Conclusion:
This is not conservatism. It is not patriotism. By shredding their own values and betraying the Constitution, MAGA leaders have proven themselves to be something else entirely—anti-American. If you campaign on liberty, dignity, and law but govern with cruelty, chaos, and corruption, then you are not protecting this nation. You are betraying it.
One thing both sides agree on is that the other side are traitors, but what neither side realizes is that they’re getting played by our friend Vlad Putin with a divide and rule political horseshoe encirclement strategy that makes the Red Army’s campaign on the Wehrmacht in the Great Patriotic War (aka World War II) look like child’s play by comparison.
In the immortal words of Pogo, we have met the enemy and it is us.