Posted on 12/12/2021 3:19:03 AM PST by Kaslin
Donald Trump’s greatest accomplishment as president may not have been the policies he enacted or the justices he appointed. Instead, as important as those accomplishments were and are, it is possible that the most important thing he did as president was to say to the political world, “I will not play your games. I am the champion of the people, not a member of the good old boys club.”
But now that he has broken the mold, thrown out the old rule book, and forged a new path of leadership, it will be best in 2024 for another conservative leader with backbone and conviction to take the lead. Trump simply brings too much collateral damage with him (and, I remind you, I voted for him in 2016 and 2020).
What prompts me to write this now is the latest reminder of the negative baggage that came along with Trump, this time in the form of two interviews he conducted with Israeli journalist Barak Ravid for his new book, Trump’s Peace: The Abraham Accords and the Reshaping of the Middle East.
As reported in the Jerusalem Post, in April of this year, Trump explained to Ravid that he had not spoken to former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu called President Biden to congratulate him after his election.
As quoted in the book, Trump said, “I haven't spoken with him since [he congratulated Joe Biden]. [Expletive] him.”
Trump also said to Ravid, “The first person that congratulated [Biden] was Bibi Netanyahu, the man that I did more for than any other person I dealt with. Bibi could have stayed quiet. He has made a terrible mistake.
“I liked Bibi. I still like Bibi. But I also like loyalty. The first person to congratulate Biden was Bibi. And not only did he congratulate him, he did it on tape.”
This is the same man who threw Vice President Mike Pence under the bus on January 6. Is it any surprise that he also ditched Bibi?
In reality, as noted by the Post, “Though Netanyahu was the first leader in the Middle East to pick up the phone to Washington, journalists were quick to note that Netanyahu was actually not one of the first people to give Biden a congratulatory call. In fact, he made the call nearly a month after Biden’s election, after calls had already come in from the leaders of France, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.”
Yet, according to Ravid, during the two interviews Trump granted him, one lasting 90 minutes, he brought up Netanyahu’s call to Biden 5 times. Talk about letting something stick in your craw. Talk about not letting it go.
But are we really surprised? (Note also that this story has been all over the news for several days now, and I have seen no report from Trump denying the quotes.)
So, in Trump’s view, despite the presence of a new administration in the White House, Netanyahu should not have reached out to Biden. The election was stolen, plain and simple, and even though Israel would be dealing with Biden, not Trump, in the days to come, Israel had no business congratulating him.
Put another way, loyalty to Trump mattered more than the strength of Israel’s relationship with America.
Put another way still, Netanyahu should have said to the people of Israel, the ones who put him in office, “I’m really sorry, but I cannot congratulate the new president of the United States. If I do so, that will hurt my friend Donald Trump, who has done so much for our country. So, I’ll sacrifice our well-being in the present and not deal with our most important ally, since I don’t want to upset the man who is no longer in the White House.” Seriously?
But this is hardly an isolated incident. Trump continues to make acknowledgment of the allegedly stolen election a litmus test.
As he said at a rally in Iowa in October, “The single biggest issue — the issue that gets the most pull, the most respect, the biggest cheers — is talking about the election fraud of 2020’s presidential election.”
But this is not the primary political battle we need to be fighting now, even if you feel 100 percent sure the election was stolen.
The primary political battle is to get the right people in office, first in the midterms, then in 2024, all while continuing to push for election integrity on every front. (For the record, our electoral system seemed to work pretty well last month, didn’t it?)
And we certainly don’t need to reelect someone who will make loyalty to him, demonstrated by the public affirmation that the election was stolen, to cloud his judgment as president.
To be sure, Trump can still be a force for good in many ways. And he can help support worthy candidates, using the massive influence he still wields.
But if he remains the same man who trashed quite a few good people over the years, then we don’t need him back in the White House.
Surely there are others who can step forward and do a good job, especially when Trump has demonstrated that tens of millions of Americans want a strong leader who will not cave in once he or she gets to Washington.
Trump has set a bold, “tell it like it is” model that others can follow. But he is not the only man who can effectively lead America. And without question, it is possible to be a decisive, powerful leader without burning so many bridges, burying so many relationships, and alienating so many people along the way.
Ya. They would not succeed against DeSantis
Right
What a fake little pansy this Michael Brown is. Thanks for the quotes.
Which is why we need someone who can win a large majority so these agencies can be taken apart.
Sigh. You believe trump didn’t get a large majority in 2020? Or that DeSantis will not be torn apart by all those who took trump apart?
Yore wasting my time
This writer says he voted for Trump twice. I’d say that makes him anything but a Trump hater.
I agree with you completely. Trump’s time has passed. He’d be too old in 2024, anyway. If Biden lasts that long, Americans will decide they don’t want another old codger in the White House. And Trump wouldn’t be facing Biden. Biden will be gone. The Democrats will make sure of that if the 2022 elections are a bloodbath. Trump would be up against someone else.
We need a different face in 2024; someone with Trump’s guts and approach to government but without Trump’s baggage and his pathological fixation on anything he perceives to be a personal insult. It hampered his presidency. It drew attention away from his accomplishments and made it easy for Democrats and the media to attack him as nuts.
I’m tired of Trump and I voted for him twice. I won’t again.
I believe Trump got a majority. I also believe that DeSantis will get ripped apart. I also believe he will have due it better.
I believe Trump got a majority. I also believe that DeSantis will get ripped apart. I also believe he will have due it better.
No idea
“It’s the “Walk on Glass” analogy that is Trump’s strongest point”
That *is* the perfect analogy. Trump is a *leader* of his people. DeSantis is not a leader. Not in the way Trump is, and will never be. He has some of his people here on FR doing his bidding to make it look like he has grassroots support, but outside of that group he has no support. A poll came out a couple of days back where he scored even less than Pence. And Pence is despised by the Trump base ! This is not a knock on DeSantis. He is an able governor but no way will he ever ever be a replacement for Trump. A leader like Trump comes along once or twice in a century.
“As far as I’m concerned, President Trump can do whatever he’d like in 2024, I will back him 100% either way.”
They want us to abide the election theft in 2020, by legitimizing the notion that Trump lost, and should therefore not run again.
He will be the only president in my lifetime to run and win three times.
They fear this beyond all imagination.
People ranting about "polarization" don't have a single clue what they're talking about. Everything is polarized. The left has polarized the color of your skin and whether or not you can have commercials with white people in it. The left has polarized going out shopping, the logos on store items, medicine, what you watch on TV, what you think and do.
What we are concerned about is getting enough normal people to wake up to the lies and crimes committed by the left in numbers sufficient to overcome voter fraud. Hell, polarization is probably very good for this purpose, because it forces people to think, act and pick sides. And I can guarantee you: normal people aren't going to be voting against Trump because they're oh so convinced that our election system is incorruptible.
Whatever the case, all of this is irrelevant. You can bitch and moan about Trump, but he WILL be the candidate in 2024 if he wants it. He leads DeSantis by almost 50 points. Trump is beloved, and any "Republican" not voting for Trump because of BS you cite were never going to be voting for him anyway since they WANT open borders and the status quo.
I don’t believe these people are DeSantis bots or some such thing. DeSantis will not be running against Donald Trump and has no plans to.
The people pushing DeSantis are a bunch of weaklings and idiots who are against Trump and are hoping to lure us into some other candidate dishonestly. If Trump were to miraculously lose all support because of their dumb opinion pieces, probably they’d turn on DeSantis next and support Pence or more likely Rubio or even Jeb Bush if he popped out again. Then they’d be writing Never DeSantis articles—not that DeSantis is anywhere near as good a candidate as Trump, not even close! But they’d be against the best candidate in a field without Trump in favor of a sad sack like Jeb.
First, Trump WILL be the candidate whether you like it or not. He leads by 50% his closest competitor. Biden will be the candidate too unless they actually murder him--and there is no candidate more likable than Biden. They're all obnoxious and in many ways were worse than Biden. Obviously most normal people aren't concerned about purely superficial concerns like how Trump responded to his detractors. Some pearl clutchers like yourself may hate that Trump never let an insult slide, but the vast majority of normal people do not.
Plus, Trump's character is absolutely unique. What candidate do you have in mind that can capture the imagination of an entire country? You do not understand politics or what Trump's "guts" and strong points are if you think anyone else can hold a candle to him.
Trump is our leader. And you will vote for him too even if, today, you clutch your pearls and declare you'll never vote for him again because of some made up BS like "he's too old!" or "he's too mean!".
Meh...Trump doesn't have a lock on the nomination, whether he wants it or not.
DeSantis may defer running against him, but Trump will face a strong challenger...maybe several.
Based on what reasoning? I've seen at least 3 polls going back months all showing the same exact thing: Trump with a massive lead over all other candidates, including DeSantis, who scores in the lower single digits.
DeSantis may defer running against him, but Trump will face a strong challenger...maybe several.
Based, again, on what? Who? Neither Ted Cruz nor DeSantis nor any conservative candidate will ever face off against Trump. Not only do they not want to, but if they were so stupid and traitorous as to try, they would kill themselves politically. So, again, based on what? Where are you getting your conclusions? What is your reasoning?
Your response is well-reasoned and appreciated.
Yep, I feel.the same he has served, but of course I would love to see him driving them nuts..
I stopped reading right there!.... lol...Who is this other conservative “leader” with backbone and conviction to take his place???? .... anyone with an (R) behind their name that has been in POLITICS for years? ...Oh yeah!...We need someone with “experience” to compromise what Trump opened the door for...lets get back to being the party of “Go along to get along” ...IMHO..Trump is the ONLY one that can fix the decline of this Country for the “FUTURE”....
It's like Michael Brown thinks that Joek Bidet is running the country, instead of The JoeLitburo.
The JoeLitburo HATES Israel, and kissing the ring of their Senile Puppet won't dissuade them a bit from stabbing Israel in the back every chance they get.
Brown is a Clown. 
Most reasonable people would agree that polls taken three years before an election are kinda meaningless, but nonetheless DeSantis holds his own in them. He'd be a top tier contender if he got in.
Neither Ted Cruz nor DeSantis nor any conservative candidate will ever face off against Trump.
You're conveniently forgetting Ted Cruz already did so and lived to tell about it.
Opposing Trump is not necessarily a career ending move by a Republican politician, and for someone like Pence or Christie, already near the end of their careers, (or Liz Cheney) that may not matter.
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