It Had to Be Trump
With anyone other than the man they'd turned into their Satan, the rejection of the left and its values could never have been so clear.
Sometimes you get things wrong. Then right. Then wrong again. Then maybe back-and-forth a few more times. Then eventually right.
That’s why I can write today that it had to be Trump.
Early on, I developed this radical, outside-the-box approach towards discussing Donald Trump: I thought that he should be subject to the same rules as all other public figures. If he said or did something I supported, I’d cheer him on. If he said or did something I opposed, I’d be critical. If, over time, I discovered that I was cheering much more often than criticizing, I’d temper my criticism. If I discovered far more disagreement and disapproval, I’d be cautious when offering praise.
Crazy, I know.
In late 2015, my initial assessment of his Presidential campaign was straightforward: He can’t possibly win the nomination, but he’s raising important issues. I hope that whoever we do nominate incorporates Trump’s agenda into the platform.
By March 2016, with the nomination secured, I declared myself fully aboard the Trump Train, though cautiously so. I noted that though I saw a far greater upside with Trump than I’d seen with any other politician (ever), I also saw far greater uncertainty. My assessment was that he might be the leader we need—but then again, it was hard to know.
By the time the 2016 RNC rolled around that summer, I was convinced: Donald Trump was the man America needed. After sixteen years of dismal leadership, and the devastating “transformation” of the Obama era, America needed a candidate to grab it by the (metaphoric) lapels, get in its face, and sputter “Wake the f**k up!” No one could have done that better than Trump.
From 2017-19 I was often effusive in my praise for Trump’s policies. I’ve been following politics closely since I was in High School, during the Carter years. Trump provided by far the best policy period I’ve seen.
At the same time though, I was rather critical of what was happening with personnel—and not just because I couldn’t get a job with the Administration (symptomatic, but not the problem itself). It was clear to me that most of the Executive Branch ignored its constitutional role and opposed the President. That scared the hell out of me. You know what’s worse than an overbearing bureaucracy? A rogue overbearing bureaucracy. And that’s what we had.
Sure enough, the personnel problem reared its ugly head in 2020. Though Trump was still able to excel on foreign policy, the rogue bureaucrats brought down the country. The U.S. faced three major domestic policy challenges in 2020: an epidemic, race riots, and election rigging. On all three issues, Trump’s instincts were in the right place. On all three, the people who were supposed to be working for him substituted their own horrendous judgment and anti-American machinations. Make no mistake: Much of what we experience in 2020 was incompatible with a constitutional republic.
By early 2021, my focus was entirely on restoring the republic. That, in my opinion, required someone capable of structural reform—the sort of nitty-gritty control of personnel and details that Trump had lacked in office. I believed that there were others far more capable of that work—and thus that Trump would be the wrong man for 2024.
I was wrong. That belief was a mistake. Perhaps that’s what we’ll need in 2025, and perhaps Trump will put someone in place capable of doing that work (I’m still available on policy and regulatory reform but someone else will have to handle the HR side). What we needed in 2024 was someone capable of obliterating Woke culture and the intelligentsia that give it life.
Only Trump could have done it.
It had to be Trump precisely because of the vilification. Yes, it’s true that the Democrats and the MSM would have demonized any Republican nominee, but likely not to the extent that they went after Trump. The reason that it had to be Trump is precisely that the left has spent so much time declaring him a unique threat. It had to be Trump because the message the American public sent to the Woke left had to be clear:
We’ve seen Biden. We’ve seen Kamala. We prefer Satan.
Had the left simply dealt with the Republican nominee the way it had dealt with Romney or McCain, the message could not have been that clear. Any analyst could have dismissed it as a mild preference for change during rough economic times.
Only a Trump victory could send the message to the left: We reject your values in their entirety! If Trump is a mortal threat to you, then we’re with Trump. The hell with you.
Once again, as in 2016, it had to be Trump.
And we’re lucky to have him.
For more information about Bruce D. Abramson & American Restorationism, visit: www.BruceDAbramson.com
To learn more about America’s Spiritual Crisis and the new religion of Wokeism, see: American Spirit or Great Awokening? The Battle to Restore or Destroy Our Nation (Academica Press, 2024).
To learn more about how America’s elites destroyed the republic, see: The New Civil War: Exposing Elites, Fighting Utopian Leftism, and Restoring America (RealClear Publishing, 2021).
To learn more about the ideology driving today’s anti-American leftism, see: American Restoration: Winning America’s Second Civil War (Kindle, 2019).
To learn more about our work at the American Coalition for Education and Knowledge, visit us at The Coalition for America.
To learn more about how I turn the ideas I discuss here into concrete projects that serve the interests of my clients, donors, and society at large, please e-mail me at bdabramson@pm.me.