Source: Orange County Register
by Steven Greenhut
“The Mamdani-Trump meeting was the embodiment of what I’ve long predicted and feared. The populist right swept away conservatives’ traditional belief in limited government and market-based reform — and replaced it with a cultural agenda fueled by anger and dependent on the wiles of a Dear Leader. It’s been successfully politically (although not economically and it’s dangerous to the health of our democracy). It was only a matter of time before Democrats gave up on their flaccid approach and embraced left-wing populism in return. This is the dictionary definition of the Horseshoe Theory, where extremes on the right and left are not divided at the far ends of a long line but at the ends of a horseshoe. Populists on both sides believe in an activist government, although they have different motivations. As fundamentally collectivist, both movements are remarkably similar.” (11/28/25)