Eyes on the Right

Eyes on the Right is a subscription-based newsletter focused on exploring the important political trend of our era: the emergence (or comeback) of the antiliberal right in the United States and globally.

National

English

Newsletter (Digital)

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

N/A

Country

N/A

Articles

An American Gulag in the Making

1 week ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Before I get into today’s post, I wanted to let everyone know about an exciting event taking place at the 92nd St. Y in New York City tomorrow night (April 15) at 6:30pm. My dear friend and teacher Mark Lilla will be in conversation with New York Times columnist David Brooks about Mark’s latest book, which I wrote about here. If you live in the New York area, I hope you’ll consider attending in person. If you don’t, you should buy an online ticket to watch the stream.
At the Mercy of a Feral President

1 week ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

I mentioned last week that I’d been at work on a post about some personal news and ended up setting it aside when the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement sent the stock market into a tailspin. Rather than return to that apolitical essay, I’ve decided to reframe it into a hybrid post blending the personal, political, and economic.
Risks From a Wounded President

2 weeks ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Upgrade to paid to play voiceoverEvery week since January 20, 2025 has felt like it’s been jam-packed with news, as Donald Trump and his team have acted on multiple fronts to seize unprecedented powers, attack the president’s myriad enemies, fundamentally shift the country’s geopolitical orientation, and establish a much harsher and more personalistic form of rule. But with the “Liberation Day” announcement on last Wednesday afternoon, something shifted.
Why Did Donald Trump Shoot the Economy in the Thigh?

2 weeks ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

I was deep into writing a more personal essay for today about some news on the Linker home front when the reality of “Liberation Day” was revealed to the country and the world. Once again, our Mad King has intruded into all of our lives to such an extent that at this moment I can’t possibly publish a lighter post focused on myself. So my apolitical essay will have to wait for another day. Notes from the Middleground is a reader-supported publication.
Scapegoats Beware

3 weeks ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

The first ten weeks of the second Trump administration have been pretty dystopian. When I said something along these lines over the weekend on Twitter/X, the president’s defenders demanded to know what I was talking about. So here’s a small sampling: The president has been disregarding the separation of powers and asserting sweeping executive authority on multiple fronts.
Are Protests a Viable Path to Blocking Trump?

3 weeks ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Upgrade to paid to play voiceoverA little more than two months into the second Trump administration, the United States finds itself in a bad place. The elected president, expanding executive power on multiple fronts, is seeking to govern in an explicitly authoritarian manner. Yet the primary means laid out in the Constitution for checking his power grabs is the legislative branch, the members of which are uninterested in fulfilling that duty.
Trump Redefines the Right’s Policy Priorities

1 month ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Upgrade to paid to play voiceoverFiguring out what the rise of Donald Trump over the past ten years portends for policymaking has been a challenge. That’s because Trump is an instinctual and impulsive person, not an ideological one. He hates immigration. He favors economic protectionism. And he doesn’t believe in deploying American troops to safeguard vulnerable democracies abroad.
Notes from the Middleground

1 month ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Analysis and criticism of the antiliberal right, social-justice progressivism, and cultural topics · Over 28,000 subscribersBy subscribing, I agree to Substack’s Terms of Use and acknowledge its Information Collection Notice and Privacy Policy“Damon Linker is a former conservative, which makes him one of the most valuable dissectors of current right wing toxicity.
The Universities Are the Enemy

1 month ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Upgrade to paid to play voiceoverMy headline is cribbed from the Vice President of the United States. JD Vance gave a keynote address with this title on November 2, 2021 at a National Conservatism conference.
What Is to Be Done?—2

1 month ago | damonlinker.substack.com | Damon Linker

Upgrade to paid to play voiceoverA little over a month ago, I wrote a post titled “What Is to Be Done?” about my struggle to figure out how to respond responsibly, honestly, and usefully as an analyst and critic of the second Trump administration. I concluded then that “understanding is enough”—meaning that I didn’t consider it my job to offer helpful, practical advice for how to resist, oppose, or thwart the actions of the president and his team.