Although more sophisticated than some of its kind, Fred Barnes’ piece in The Weekly Standard detailing conservative intellectual support for Donald Trump outside the presumably villainous Acela Corridor is an increasingly common example of a certain species of political commentary. It’s a compelling essay that suggests influential anti-Trump conservatives are, in fact, prisoner to a host of prejudices. In a clever rebuttal, National Review’s Jonah Goldberg noted that, save one, all of the allegedly pro-Trump conservative intellectuals Barnes’ cites are uneasy with the celebrity candidate and his philosophy. The fact that so many telltale dogs are conspicuously mute should have been the focus of the piece, Goldberg argued. If these are votes of confidence in Trump, the opposition’s case must be a strong one. Similarly, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set out this week to make the case for Trump. Perhaps inadvertently, the results of his labors have been to set that cause back.

McConnell is on a tour of the political media world promoting his new book, but he has understandably generated the most headlines by defending his decision to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee for president. The fact that the leader of the GOP majority in the Senate has publicly backed the likely GOP nominee for the White House is still generating headlines is itself an indication of just how controversial Donald Trump remains. As such, McConnell has made it his mission to convince and cajole remaining Trump skeptics that it is in their best interests to fall in line behind the reality television star.