Bill Kristol officially changed his political registration to the Democratic Party on May 11, 2026, following up a week later with a Bulwark column outlining a strategic roadmap to defeat the Republican Party in the upcoming midterms.
On The Bulwark Podcast, Bill Kristol defended the move as a necessary evolution of his long-standing opposition to Donald Trump. While the Bulwark team has largely rallied around his pivot, the broader podcast landscape remains skeptical of his ideological journey.
Elsewhere, critics like Scott Horton on The Joe Rogan Experience frame Bill Kristol not as a political nomad, but as a consistent architect of the American empire. Horton argues that his influence is tied to a specific brand of civic religion, noting, "that's, that's how we know that that's who we are."
As Bill Kristol prepares for the midterm cycle, the divide is clear: his new allies see a pragmatic patriot, while his critics view him as the embodiment of an outdated establishment consensus that refuses to fade away.
