Right-wing socialism won’t win elections

President Donald Trump would like voters to believe that his Republican Party is the diametric opposite of the Democratic Socialists of America. Of late, for example, he has tried to pin the radical insurgency on the entire Democratic Party, thereby framing the midterm elections as a contest over “communism.” But a closer look at the actual policies this administration supports tells a different story about its position on socialism.Take, for example, the welfare policies coming out of the Republicans’ “midterm convention” this month in Dallas. Although most of the country understandably tuned out, the event has revealed a great deal about the state of the party establishment and its attraction to policies that seem awfully socialistic. Perhaps the most headline-grabbing announcement came from Trump himself, who vowed to give every adult a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if his party wins this November’s elections. At the same time, Vice President JD Vance was taking to the airwaves to defend a policy to put stay-at-home parents on the welfare dole through the federal Child Care and Development Fund.Conservatives should be forthright about what these schemes really are: bribing the voters. The populist establishment in Washington thinks that it can reverse disastrous poll numbers by simply offering the public more stuff. Figures such as Trump will pitch these ideas with all the flair of a showman, and others like Vance will drape their proposals in paeans to “conservative values.” In the end, though, this amounts to little more than a slapdash, right-wing form of socialism. Socialism certainly has proved popular with America’s youngest voters, but that does not mean Republicans should claim it as an economic doctrine themselves. Simply adopting New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policy agenda and stamping it with an elephant logo is not a serious approach to the genuine economic problems of our times. Republicans could do better by running on a more genuine and effective pro-growth platform, rooted in economic insights that have triumphed over ideological slogans time and time again.Merchandise featuring the likeness of President Donald Trump on fake money is sold at the National Rifle Association’s Annual Meetings & Exhibits, Sunday, April 19, 2026, in Houston. (Aaron M. Sprecher via AP) Many families are facing a cost-of-living crisis that will only be exacerbated by new welfare spending. Just last month, for example, inflation outpaced wage growth once again — disastrous news for folks already feeling the squeeze of increased gas and grocery bills. Not only has the Trump administration been truant when it comes to fixing the economic fundamentals former President Joe Biden left in shambles, but it has also pursued a variety of inflationary policies of its own, most notably self-wounding tariffs, that raise prices for consumers.Though his hypocrisy will shock no one, Trump himself has been on record criticizing the very policies he now supports. Last year, for example, he rightly blamed the rise of inflation on the Biden administration’s spending policies. His new stimulus proposal, which could cost over $1.2 trillion according to some estimates, is nothing more than a naked attempt to garner popularity ahead of an electoral contest that will almost assuredly cost his party control of one chamber of Congress, if not both.But there are deeper reasons that Republicans have historically opposed a bigger welfare state. Not only did conservatives roll their eyes at the economic folly of socialism, they also recognized the kind of social engineering that goes hand-in-hand with it as fundamentally at odds with the principle of limited government. We cannot centrally plan or “nudge” people into happiness, whatever promises ideologues and demagogues make. The best way to help real families is not through paternalistic bureaucracy but rescuing them from the downward spiral of inflation through policies that will actually spark economic growth by enabling them to make a real living and keep more of their income.Indeed, earlier conservatives actually channeled populist rage into their opposition to socialism. The founders of the movement refused to make their peace with New Deal statism, for example, and Ronald Reagan was catapulted to the presidency thanks to his persuasive criticisms of the Washington elite’s centralizing tendencies. They understood, unlike the amateurs running the Republican Party today, that the best way to defeat their political opponents was by embracing their differences rather than minimizing them.Republicans would be foolish to think they could offer voters bigger bribes than their DSA opponents can. Already, Trump’s stimulus bill and Vance’s welfare expansion face uphill battles in the Capitol — members of their own party have expressed enough doubts about the schemes that they are unlikely to receive sufficient legislative support.VANCE AND THE GOP’S HAMILTONIAN TURNMeanwhile, the DSA wing of the Democratic Party makes ever-more elaborate promises about reorganizing the entire U.S. economy. Republican staff in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building or in populist think tanks across town simply cannot keep up.If Republicans have any hope of staving off a disastrous midterm cycle, they will need to offer the public something better than right-wing socialism. Democrats will always offer bigger bribes and wilder dreams about the possibilities of big government than Republicans ever can. Conservatives would be far better off advocating a genuine growth agenda, one that recognizes that families flourish when markets are free.Michael Lucchese is the founder of Pipe Creek Consulting, an associate editor of Law & Liberty, and a contributing editor to Providence. He is also the editor of a new collection of writings by Russell Kirk, On America: How to Understand the Legacy of 1776.