“Courage for conservatives today means refusing to be bullied or intimidated into acquiescing to, or silently going along with, the dogmas that the progressive movement, via the exercise of its extraordinary cultural power, is attempting to force on us,” George tells National Review. “Courage means boldly speaking truth to cultural (and economic) power — out loud and in public.”

Conservatives’ reluctance to assert themselves has allowed leftists to define the boundaries of acceptable thought. “Courage means standing boldly in solidarity,” George says, “with those whose rights of conscience are trampled by cultural elites deploying the coercive power of government to force them to conform to progressive ideological orthodoxy.”

It also means defending those who have been unjustly criticized and smeared with false accusations. “I agree that many Republican leaders have failed to defend people who have been smeared, and that certainly created an appetite for a leader who would push back and fight hard,” George says. “I’m certainly in favor of speaking out — forcefully, loudly — in defense of people who have been smeared with false charges of bigotry, ‘animus,’ etc. That’s central to my message.”