New York Times (Op-Ed)
By Peter Wehner
July 8, 2015
Donald
Trump is a force in the Republican presidential race. Two recent polls
show him running second to Jeb Bush nationally. He’s also polling second
in Iowa and New
Hampshire. And his pronouncements are commanding attention, especially
on Fox News, where he’s a popular presence.
Some
of this is attributable to the fact that Mr. Trump is a genius at
drawing the spotlight to himself. He thrives on social media. Democrats
and the press are only too
happy to highlight Mr. Trump’s stream of invective and outrageous
utterances, including his claim that Mexico is purposely sending us drug
dealers, rapists and carriers of infectious diseases.
To
their credit, several Republican presidential candidates, including
Rick Perry, Marco Rubio and Mr. Bush, have criticized Mr. Trump. Yet
it’s also true that Mr. Trump
has garnered respect from some of his fellow Republicans. According to
Ted Cruz, Mr. Trump is “bold,” “brash” and “speaks the truth.” Rick
Santorum likes it that he’s focused on “a very important issue for
American workers and particularly, legal immigrants
in this country.” An editorial in The Weekly Standard says Republicans
can benefit from “a little touch of Trump” in rhetoric, attitude and
bearing. According to Rush Limbaugh, Mr. Trump’s statements will
“resonate” with many Americans.
They may. But they shouldn’t.
For
starters, Mr. Trump, though he claims to be a conservative, is nothing
of the sort. He’s barely even a Republican. For most of the last decade,
he was a registered
Democrat. It wasn’t that long ago that most of his political
contributions went to Democrats, including Senators Harry Reid, Chuck
Schumer and Hillary Clinton. Before he discovered his Republican roots,
Mr. Trump favored a single-payer health care system and
proposed a large “net worth tax” on wealthy individuals. He once
declared himself “strongly pro-choice” and favored drug legalization. He
is a vehement protectionist. Earlier this year he even accused
Republicans running for president of “attacking” Social
Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Why would conservatives find him the
least bit appealing?
Mr.
Trump has no coherent governing philosophy. All he has is an attitude,
and a crude one at that. As his announcement speech and subsequent
statements have made clear,
his command of the issues is superficial, his presentation often
rambling and demagogic.
At
the heart of Donald Trump’s candidacy is folie de grandeur. Mr. Trump
will build a fence on the southern border — and get Mexico to pay for
it. He’s got a “foolproof”
plan to defeat the Islamic State “very quickly,” but when asked what it
is, he told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren, “I’m not gonna tell you what it
is tonight.” He’ll have a “great relationship” with Vladimir V. Putin
while also keeping Iran from getting a nuclear
weapon. His policy views on China consist mostly of bluster (“Oh, would
China be in trouble. The poor Chinese.”). Mr. Trump is eager to tell us
that “there’s nobody bigger and better at the military than I am.” He
also gets things done “better than anybody.”
And he will be “the greatest jobs president that God ever created.”
There’s
also the matter of Mr. Trump’s erratic and conspiratorial temperament.
He believes “massive vaccinations” cause autism (“the doctors lied”). He
was the most prominent
person in America pushing the theory that President Obama — a “psycho!”
and “maybe” a Muslim — might not be a natural-born American citizen.
And he delights in making malicious statements. He’s absolutely sure,
for example, that Mexicans crossing our southern
border are drug dealers and rapists, but he can only “assume” there are
“some good people” crossing the border as well. (Mr. Trump would later
say that “many fabulous people come in from Mexico” and “I get along
great with Mexico. I get along great.” Of course
he does.)
As
for political discourse, Mr. Trump is insulting and witless. His
critics are “losers,” “jerks” and “dummies.” These kinds of taunts are
usually found in schoolyards
rather than presidential campaigns. But a presidential campaign is
right where he is.
There’s
not much that can be done about that. If conservatives rally to defend
Mr. Trump on the grounds that he’s “refreshing” and has “passion,” that
he’s “anti-establishment”
and irritates liberals, they will do considerable damage to their
movement and to the Republican Party. Mr. Trump is a pernicious figure
on the American political landscape. He can’t be wished away. Which
means the people who have to confront and expose him
are conservatives. We’re the ones who have the most to lose from a
successful Trump candidacy.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
No comments:
Post a Comment