by Tom Klingenstein
They say we need someone with Trump’s virtues but without his vices. Fair enough, but that formulation does not get us very far unless we have a proper accounting his virtues.
Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for President in 2024. Other Republican politicians say some version of, “I like his policies but don’t like the rest of him.” But this gets it almost backwards. Although Trump advanced many important policies, it is the “rest of him” that contains the virtues that inspired a movement.
Trump was born for the current crisis: the life and death struggle against the totalitarian enemy I call “woke communism.” The “woke comms” clench the Democratic party by the scruff of its neck. They tell us lies and silence those who challenge the lies. Like most totalitarian regimes, they have a scape goat (white males), a narrative (America is systemically racist) and a utopian vision of society where there are equal outcomes for all preferred identity groups in every area of human life. The woke comms control all the cultural, and economic centers of power in the country from where they ruthlessly push their agenda. That agenda rests on the conviction that America is thoroughly bad (systemically racist) and must be destroyed. As Trump once said, “their goal is not a better America, their goal is the end of America.” Make no mistake, we are in the midst of a cold civil war. Trump awakened the public the public to this fact. You cannot win a war unless you know you are in one. Trump critics say he caused or exacerbated the divide in this country. No, he did not. He revealed—not caused–the divide.
In war you must make a stand. For that we need strong men. Weak men do anything to avoid admitting the hardest truths because they lack the resolve to do what truth demands from them. Trump is a manly man. In present times, when manhood is being stripped of its masculinity, traditional manhood, even when flawed, has much appeal. Trump ripped apart people he thought were weak. Sometimes he went overboard, but his supporters forgave his excesses because strength is in such short supply. Trump plays to win. When you’re in the right, you have a moral duty, not to just to fight but to win… and sometimes that means doing distasteful things. There are no clean hands in a fist fight. If there is one thing that the American people know about Donald Trump is that he, unlike the woke comms, loves America and wishes to preserve it. Trump is unreservedly, unquestionably pro- American. He makes no apologies for America’s past. Trump is a refreshing break from the guilt and self-loathing that mark our age.
The America Trump wants to recover is the America of his youth.
relentless optimism and supported by grit and determination. An America which had done great things in the past and was eager to do more. An America properly confident in itself. Trump is still confident in America. In this time of national doubt this too is just what the doctor ordered. Trump thinks America can vanquish all comers if we just put our mind to it and he is right. Trump has the courage to defend his own people–a large, and impressive, political fact. Courage never demands perfection. Trump stood up for America every time he violated the strictures of political correctness. Trump has said over and over exactly what political correctness prohibits one from saying: “We have our culture, it’s exceptional, and that’s the way we want to keep it.”
Trump has made it clear that we have no duty to invite anyone into this country, and that no one has a right to come here. This is our country. And when we do allow foreigners the privilege to come here then, as Trump once said, “they must share our values and love our people.”
Not out of nostalgia, but because this was an America guided by Trump said Haiti is a “shithole” and that Representative Maxine Waters has a low IQ. These were not racist lies but uncouth, politically incorrect observations that most people would agree with but not dare say. Most of us, conservatives no less than liberals, are reluctant to criticize black Americans for fear of being called a racist. Trump, on the other hand, is an equal opportunity criticizer. This is what we used to call “colorblindness.” From morning to night we heard that Trump was a racist. That it was repeated endlessly does not make it true. It isn’t.
Trump’s contempt for political correctness showed patriotic Americans that its ever-tightening grip could be loosened. As Trump and his supporters know, political correctness cripples our ability to think clearly and act decisively. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of Trump’s fight against political correctness, a fight in which most Republicans are reluctant to engage. Only if Americans and their leaders stand up to political correctness and show it the contempt it deserves is there a chance of preserving the American way of life.
Trump treated the woke media with the same contempt he treated political correctness, provoking their outrage and revealing their utter corruption. It seems only Trump understands that the media can be neither negotiated with, nor reformed. It must be defeated.
Unlike most politicians, Trump when he sees a problem goes out and fixes it. He fixed our porous borders, moved our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, normalized relations between Arab countries and Israel, eliminated hate-America Critical Race Theory in his administrative agencies, developed a vaccine for the corona virus in record time, achieved energy independence and much more. Trump is guided by facts and common sense. He has no use for theories. He knows that slavish devotion to theory can lead to nonsensical beliefs; for instance, that children should be able to change their sex; that police forces should be defunded; or that biological boys should be able to compete against girls in athletics. But it takes courage and independence to live authentically. And in politics, most find it almost impossible not to be phony. Not Trump. I’m certain Trump finds it impossible to believe a woman can be a “he.” With Trump, what you see is what you get. Authenticity is something you have or you don’t.
A large part of Trump’s appeal was that he was a bona fide outsider. He distrusted the so-called “experts” who believe they know better than the average American how to run the country. This distrust was appealing to Trump’s base who believe, and with good reason, that it is the “experts” who have created the despotic mess in which we find ourselves.
Trump taught us crucial things. For starters, that China is a mortal enemy. Before his Presidency the public did not appreciate this. Now it does. Likewise, free trade, accepted as dogma by both parties before Trump, now is highly contested. These changes in public sentiment are big accomplishments made possible by qualities independent of policy.
Trump smoked rats out of their hiding places. Because of Trump we now know that our intelligence agencies are corrupt. We know also that the mainstream media is not just biased but is the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party.
Although his own administration sometimes made it difficult for him to get done everything he promised, his supporters knew he was on their side and was trying his damnedest not to let them down. Against the advice of the most in his party, Trump has not let go of the claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. His base backs him. And well they should. They know Republicans will lose all future elections unless we get to the bottom of the last one.
Trump connected with his audience as Reagan did, because each spoke as a citizen to fellow citizens, without a trace of condescension. Trump may not have worked on a construction site, but he knew his way around one. One can imagine him swapping bawdy and sexist jokes with his workers. It wasn’t an act and Americans knew it.
Other Presidents have represented the middle class, but none with Trump’s common touch. Trump, understands, as does the outsourced American worker, that a cheap smartphone is not a replacement for a meaningful job and the life it supports. Trump also understands that what Americans of all races and creeds desire are stable communities, and the opportunity to raise their families in a culture that values industriousness, self- reliance, patriotism, and freedom.
Some will say Trump is a bad man and that disqualifies him. I do not
If you are dying of thirst and there is only one person offering water, you accept the water gratefully, regardless of the character of your rescuer.
This enumeration of Trump’s virtues does not fully capture his uncommon courage and firmness of purpose. Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory. He has, like it or not, defined the politics of our age. In 2016 and 2020 he was the political leader most fit for war-like circumstances. Trump inspired a movement that, if properly deployed, might really challenge the woke comms, and God willing, save the country. Republicans should not forget that it is his supporters and their American spirit that have become the life force of the Republican Party.
Among the talked-about alternatives to Trump, I have not yet seen anyone who possesses, or even fully understands Trump’s virtues. Nor have I seen anyone with his backbone and fortitude. One does not appreciate the strength of relentless gale-force winds until one is in the eye of the storm. I am not suggesting that it is time for everyone to make way for Trump; rather that it is much too early to throw him overboard.
If Republicans do choose another candidate to lead the Trump movement, they must do so in full confidence that he will embody Trump’s virtues. If not Trump himself, his virtues must be the standard by which we judge other candidates. Thank you.