Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
As the co-publisher of The Fulcrum it is my responsibility to adhere to the principles of our daily publication.
Our mission states we are “a platform where insiders and outsiders to politics are informed, meet, talk, and act to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives.”
We approach all our news stories with an open and skeptical mind, and with a determination, through research and critical thinking, to acquaint our readers with a wide range of viewpoints.
As best we can, we remove personal bias from our reporting and seek a variety of perspectives in the opinion pieces we choose to publish.
And while many publications endorse candidates, The Fulcrum has never done so.
With the above in mind it is with great caution and forethought that I announce my personal support for the election of Utah’s Evan McMullin to the Senate. This is not a change in policy for The Fulcrum, which continues to focus on coverage of solutions to the problems plaguing our nations without endorsing any specific ideas or people.
Few deny that our political system is broken. The crippling partisanship and grinding gridlock in Congress that frustrate and anger most Americans must come to an end. However, election after election we vote for candidates who put political parties over the needs of our country. Does anyone really believe virtually every candidate’s promises that they will solve our problems and deliver real solutions to our nation’s problems? To believe so is the definition of insanity. Something must change in the type of people we elect.
Political leadership must change. The sound bite nature of media coverage must change. The very nature of the national dialogue must change. The behavior that people accept from our leaders must change.
And that is why I am supporting Evan McMullin for Senate.
McMullin is a former Republican, now a declared independent and fully backed by the Democratic Party. He says uniting voters across the spectrum is the only way to unseat the incumbent,Trump ally Mike Lee.
"People are sick of the divisiveness," McMullin told People. "We've got mounting challenges in Utah — inflation is worse here than almost anywhere else, air quality is a real challenge especially during the summer, we're running out of water in a historic drought, we've got high cost of health care and on and on. Politics of division and extremism just don't solve them, and people are tired of it."
Our nation is at a crossroads. Now more than ever, when we are locked into a divisive political battle between left and right, we can – and we must – come together to support one thing that unites us all: a belief in the freedom of people to determine their own destiny.
I believe Evan McMullin embodies these principles.
MuMullin is looking for votes from what he calls "principled Republicans," as well as Democrats and, of course, independents. This is not the typical way candidates seek election. McMullin says: "We're building a coalition of Utahns who have not been well represented in Utah or national politics for decades."
He continues: "We listen to each other. That's what's happening here that I don't think is happening anywhere else in the country, but it needs to. Our country will not survive if we don't build a new, sustainable coalition to defend our democracy. Even if it is Pollyanna-ish, it's what we have to do."Typically independent candidates do not succeed because finding a coalition of conservatives, moderates and liberals is a difficult task indeed. "It doesn't mean there aren't tough conversations. We don't agree on everything, and that's okay," McMullin says. He looks for moderate solutions that most people support. He explains, for example, he's a gun owner who believes in "sensible reform." People can enjoy their Second Amendment right and laws can protect against gun violence. "It's not an either-or."
McMullin’s campaign is focused on the vast middle that he believes represents America. While he admits we all don’t agree on the issues "we agree on standing up to the extremes."
Our country needs bold leadership. We need leadership that is direct and honest in public statements and puts ethical commitments above partisan or career objectives. I believe McMullin embodies this principle.
Our country needs leaders who respect all persons, including opponents, and are willing to engage constructively. I believe McMullin embodies this principle.
Our country needs leaders who take full accountability for actions through a willingness to amend one’s positions, learning from one's mistakes, thus resulting in a more constructive approach to problem identification and solutions. I believe McMullin embodies this principle.
Our country needs leaders who always remain open to learning new information and seeking it out through supporting research and analysis that actively broaden one’s horizons. I believe McMullin embodies this principle.
Our country needs leaders who are willing to demonstrate bold leadership by taking political risks if necessary to advance controversial policies, particularly those likely to bring long-term benefits. I believe McMullin embodies this principle.
Only with leaders like Evan McMullin can we defeat the tribalism that separates us as a nation and build bridges and alliances beyond one’s constituency. By adhering to the principles that I believe guide McMullin, and leaders like him, we can build trust and understanding as a nation. "We are at a real crossroads in American history when we have to get back to basics. This coalition is defending what matters most in America and without that we won't solve any other problems in our country," he asserts. "Every generation or two there is a realignment in American politics," McMullin says. "And we need that right now to stand up to those who threaten our democracy.”
I agree.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.