I agree with your defense of these things that our president has said and done. Honestly, I’d consider his directness and brashness and clarity — even his coarseness — to often be a VERY good thing for our nation.
Too often on FR, though, people see someone make a critique of something about the president, and they get triggered into labeling that person as a “Never Trumper.” That is needlessly divisive and unhelpful.
Some people are especially triggered by Ted Cruz, which is especially tiresome.
“Too often on FR, though, people see someone make a critique of something about the president, and they get triggered into labeling that person as a “Never Trumper.” That is needlessly divisive and unhelpful.”
In principle, I agree with you. But the fact is, we live in a very political world. Much, maybe even most of the time that a fellow Republic criticizes the President, there’s a political motive behind it, even when the criticism may have some merit. And when the criticism mirrors that of his critics on the left, that makes them even more suspect of an ulterior motive. When you’re at war, you avoid criticizing your General publicly, especially if the criticisms are minor criticisms of style rather than important policy disagreements. It gives the appearance of opportunism.