The Trump Divide among American Conservative Professors

There has been an outpouring of research on right-wing populist conservatism since the advent of the Trump presidency and right-wing movements in Europe. Yet, little research thus far has been devoted to divisions among conservatives themselves, especially among conservative academics. Though Trump has maintained remarkable unity within the Republican Party for electoral reasons, he has fostered sharp divisions among conservative intellectuals and academicians. This paper compares 100 American politically conservative professors who are Trumpists and 80 conservative professors who are anti-Trumpists. All 182 function as public intellectuals who advocate their views in print and digital media. Comparisons look at their respective institutional locations (school prestige, academic discipline, and scholarly productivity) in the field of American higher education. This paper examines the network affiliations to major think tanks, government agencies, and professional associations where these individuals try to influence the public agenda with their views. This paper analyzes the views and stances that these two groups have taken relative to four of the most important challenges of the Trump era: Covid-19, the impeachments, the November 2020 election lost, and the January 6 mob assault on the US Capitol. The study draws inspiration from Pierre Bourdieu’s field analysis of intellectuals and shows the views and stances of the two groups of conservative professors (Trumpists and anti-Trumpists) to be sharply polarized, enduring, and rooted in two distinct social networks that reinforce their respective political identities and action. As such, this research contributes to political sociology, the sociology of intellectuals, and the sociology of conservative politics in American higher education.