“Populists have a tendency to adopt conspiratorial thinking.”
Matthew Continetti has written a history of American conservatism, a study of the age old tension between populism and the elites that have, long before Trump, dominated the story of the American right. His book – The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism deals with this history at a time when it seems as if one side has triumphed. “Right now,” Continetti says, “I think the Republican Party has consolidated around a populist tradition, exemplified by President Trump and his Make America Great Again movement.” In this podcast he talks to Dion Fanning about his book.