Spring 2024 Bohnett Fellow
Tim Miller is The Bulwark’s writer-at-large and host of The Next Level podcast. He was the author of The New York Times best-selling book Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell, which chronicled how and why Republican elites yielded to Donald Trump’s takeover of the party. He is currently an MSNBC political analyst and host of Not My Party on Snapchat. He is a frequent guest on Crooked Media’s Pod Save America and has written about politics and culture for the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Ringer, and Playboy. His satirical profile of Gettr was highlighted on Bloomberg’s “Jealousy List” in 2021.
Prior to his move to the media, Tim was a leading strategist for Republican politicians and a PR consultant for corporations and advocacy groups. His most recent role was as political director for Republican Voters Against Trump. Prior to that he was communications director for Jeb Bush 2016, spokesman for the Republican National Committee, and founder of America Rising, a GOP Super PAC focused on opposition research and candidate tracking. Tim worked for or advised numerous other Republican campaigns including Jon Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign, John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, Scott Walker and Nikki Haley’s successful gubernatorial re-elections, and several congressional campaigns in Iowa.
Tim has been recognized as one of the leading “Never Trump Republicans.” Following Jeb Bush’s defeat in the 2016 campaign he became spokesman for “Our Principles PAC” a group dedicated to stopping Trump’s nomination. At the time, the Washington Post included him in a list of “The Ten Republicans who hate Donald Trump the most.” After the 2020 campaign he officially left the party in a widely read article for The Bulwark titled “Goodbye to All That.”
Tim grew up in Denver, Colorado and graduated from George Washington University with a degree in political science and journalism. He currently lives in New Orleans, Louisiana with his husband and daughter.
Study Group: How the Republican Party Shifted to Trump and MAGA Populism
Students looked at the period from 2015-present, analyzing how and why a populist, provocative outsider took over the Republican Party and remade it in his image. They reviewed the tactics Trump employed to become the party’s new leader, the incentives that led most Republican elites to support him, and the policy issues that define the new MAGA GOP and distinguish it from the GOP’s old guard. Finally, they looked at what these changes mean for our political realignment more broadly in the coming years.
Spring 2024 Semester Recap
USC students in Tim’s study group shared this about their experience:
“I gained a better appreciation of the core of each party—its voters—and how their shifting political desires and interests have driven the past, present, and future of both the Republican and Democratic parties. We discussed Trump’s pull on the right, and engaged in dialogue about how the political landscape of America might develop in upcoming elections.”
Will Erens, Political Economy
“My favorite part of being in this study group was being able to engage and talk with a phenomenal political communicator who is currently an MSNBC contributor and worked for campaigns in the past. I aspire to do similar work as Tim and being able to spend time learning and speaking with him was invaluable!”
Tim shared his thoughts on the importance of politics, his first political experience, his advice for having respectful political discourse, and what he appreciates about CPF in his “Quick Takes: Q&A with CPF Fellow Tim Miller” video.