Well, you got to hand one victory to the National Review after their highly charged “Here’s Why Donald Trump Stinks” issue; they’ve bullied their way back into the political zeitgeist. Unfortunately, it may have been at the cost of their tax-exempt status. At least that’s the suggestion from a commentary by Rottdawg, posted today on Joe For America.
National Review was once the mighty anchor of American conservatism. Since the death of its founder, William F. Buckley, the magazine has failed to evolve into the digital age with anything even masquerading as 21st century understanding. According to Rottdawg, in order to stem the financial bleeding, the once mighty conservative mainstay rebranded itself as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit to be able to accept donations. The hitch, continues Rottdawg, is that nonprofits aren’t allowed to dive into the political pool and tell supporter who to like or dislike at the risk of having their comfy tax write off rescinded. Similarly, churches enjoy a tax break under the same agreement that priests and pastors won’t tell their congregations who God does or doesn’t want them to vote for.
Since The National Review’s most recent edition, in which practically every page was dedicated to why Donald Trump is loathsome and you shouldn’t vote for him, one could certainly argue that the magazine broke the rules. That said, there are an abundance of examples when churches and nonprofits broke the same rule without rebuke. Heck, there’s an entire day dedicated to it.
My guess is it’s unlikely The National Review will get hammered by anybody but Trump voters and core conservatives. If anything, it’s just another example of the journal’s growing irrelevancy and poor timing. Didn’t they get the memo that establishment Republicans are now siding with Trump as their best shot at defeating died-in-the-wool conservative, Ted Cruz?
