# The American Conservative The American Conservative is a paleoconservative magazine founded in 2002 by [[Pat Buchanan]], Taki Theodoracopulos, and Scott McConnell. The publication was launched as a direct response to the neoconservative dominance of the [[Republican Party]] and the broader conservative movement, particularly in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Its founding editorial stance centered on opposition to American military interventionism, skepticism toward free-trade globalism, and restrictionist views on immigration. The magazine occupies an important niche within [[Paleoconservatism]], providing intellectual cover for positions that were marginalized within mainstream conservatism during the Bush era but later gained traction during the Trump realignment. Its editorial line often critiques the priorities of [[Fox News]] and establishment Republican outlets, arguing that mainstream conservative media serves corporate and interventionist interests rather than the cultural and economic concerns of ordinary Americans. The publication has also challenged aspects of [[Neoliberalism]], particularly free-market orthodoxy on trade and labor policy. The American Conservative's significance to the right-wing landscape lies in its role as an early institutional voice for the nationalist-populist ideas that would eventually reshape Republican politics. Many of the themes it championed for years — immigration restriction, trade protectionism, foreign policy restraint — became central pillars of the MAGA movement.