Earlier this week in the Washington Post, George Will declared that the current riots, COVID, and the collective economic fallout are the death knell of the Trump presidency. Will admits Trump is not the genesis of any of the aforementioned crises but blames him for making them worse. Will believes this can, and should, lead to Trump’s downfall.
Until a few months ago, the booming economy made Trump an all-but-unbeatable incumbent. But with the ongoing pandemic and the unrest of recent days, the nation may be swayed by low morale, economic devastation, and loss of confidence in the commander in chief.
Then again, the media continues its deceptive coverage of the riots and accuses all white people of racism—as though Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd’s murders are not repulsive to all Americans. These are the same failed leftist tactics that helped get Trump elected in 2016. If they keep it up, Trump’s defeat may become wishful thinking on the part of those who have never understood Trump’s people or his appeal.
The Left Still Doesn’t Get Trump or the American People
Like many Never Trump screeds, Will’s criticisms are cloaked around the Republican party. His real issue, however, is with Trump voters. He blames the party for nominating Trump and stocking Congress with “invertebrates whose unswerving abjectness has enabled his institutional vandalism…” But if pro-Trump Congressmen are “invertebrates,” what does that make the Americans who voted for them?
Admittedly, Donald Trump is not who I would have chosen for our nation’s highest office. But the fact remains our fellow Americans elected him. He reflects our current political experience. We cannot dismiss Trump and what he stands for without also dismissing the views of the millions of men and women who choose him to be president. Who in their right mind watches these riots and begs for a Biden presidency?
Even if Trump is “unraveling” as Never Trumpers are wont to claim, his supporters won’t disappear on November 4th. George Will and the leftists many Never Trumpers now ally themselves with must reconcile their perception of the American people with reality. Even if Trump loses in November, millions will still want the kind of policies and leadership that Donald Trump gave them. To ignore them is to invite further division and civil unrest.
No One Makes Americans Feel More Understood than Trump
Will’s rant calls to mind a trip I took to NYC with a friend a few months ago. On our drive home, the car stalled. We ended up taking an hour and a half ride in a tow truck to drag the car from Staten Island to Trenton, NJ.
As we got into the cab, our tow truck driver, a middle-aged man from Brooklyn, wasted only a few minutes before bringing up Trump with missionary zeal. He told us that he hated politics and hated politicians, but loved Donald Trump. Why? Because Trump is the only one speaking up for people like him. I can only imagine what he thinks of these protests rage through Manhattan and into his neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Here’s why the Never Trumpers can’t succeed: there’s nothing George Will, Joe Biden, or anyone else can say to this tow truck driver to make him feel more understood, validated, and empowered than Donald Trump does. Frankly, they don’t want this man’s support—but Donald Trump does.
After years of being berated as racist or ignorant, Donald Trump reassures everyday Americans that their views are valid and their way of life is worthwhile. He lets them fulfill the only dream most Americans have: to live their lives as they please without harassment or contempt from their government.
Can Anything Stop Donald Trump?
There’s another reality the Never Trumpers and the left can’t see: if you voted for Donald Trump in 2016, he’s delivered on almost every promise he’s made to you. No, there is no border wall that Mexico has paid for. Still, this is largely the fault of Congress and the judiciary. On issues like deregulation, economic growth, and the federal courts, Trump has exceeded the expectations of his voters.
Can the loyalty of Trump voters withstand racial tensions, cities on fire, stores looted, and people being beaten and killed in the streets? Yes. If the left keeps comparing gun owners to slave owners. If they advocate throwing white women out of airplanes; if they beat their neighbors with two-by-fours; if they murder a 77-year-old former police chief and broadcast it on Facebook Live. So long as the left keeps violating Americans’ sense of justice, voters will stick with the guy they trust to restore it.
They’re Not After Trump, They’re After You
Trump himself put it best in a tweet posted last year.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1207508280207011841
“In reality, they’re not after me, they’re after you. I’m just in the way.”
This is what causes the loyalty that Trump supporters have for their Commander-in-Chief. They recognize that the left’s attacks on Trump are actually attacks on them. Just like the left has attacked Trump for his SCOTUS picks, or pro-life stance, now they’re attacking him for “stoking racial tensions” and accuse him of using “aggressive tactics” to restore law and order.
Trump is nothing if not a public relations savant. Once the dust settles, if he cannot take credit for restoring order, he’ll do his best to deflect and lay the blame at someone else’s feet. He’ll remind his followers what the other side thinks of them, how they desecrated our American values, and what will happen to them if Joe Biden becomes the apologizer-in-chief.
After this national tragedy quiets down, there will be no shortage of voices telling the American people that they should be ashamed of themselves. I assure you, Joe Biden will be chief among them. Donald Trump will lose no support if he can keep doing what he’s always done for his loyal followers: make them feel proud to be American.
