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.
Agreed. Trump or DeSantis are the only acceptable options. Only other person I trust in the upper echelon is Rand Paul. Everyone else can be bought.
Trump taught us and gave us permission to fight.
Biden, fauci and their crowd of lunatics want us cowering in fear of the government masters.
I will not comply
I used to think it was Eisenhower, then I thought it was Regan who has been the best president in my lifetime. Now there is no question, it was Trump, I would vote for him over anyone else. I like DeSantis, we have a vacation house in Florida, what a great governor. I would like to keep him there to keep that state good for us. Trump in the Whitehouse and DeSantis in Florida is a very good combination for me.
I’m not really a Libertarian but I would probably be able to support Rand Paul as VP with Trump. My home state is Kentucky so I would like to keep him there, perhaps as governor but not at the cost of loosing him as a senator.
More like “let someone else prop the door back up, and apologize to their “good friends across the isle” for knocking it down in the first place. “
Yep, after the hell they put him through, he deserves two more terms because they neutered the first term and stile the second. Kind of getting old for two terms but I’ll take one.
“As far as I’m concerned, President Trump can do whatever he’d like in 2024, I will back him 100% either way. He has earned that from me.”
Damn right. As I see it, and if for no other reason, the Democrats have exhausted everything they can use against Trump, and they bounce off.
Now look at others. DeSantis might look best, but what about his divorce 15 years ago with accusations of child abuse? Haven’t heard of that, have you? Well, neither have I, and I doubt it exists. BUT, something like that will emerge, probably totally fake, but we simply don’t know if DeSantis can handle it. We found out the hard way that Cruz couldn’t, when he sucked up to Hillary at the 2016 Convention because Trump hurt his feelings (even though Trump was only responding to a Cruz attack). So rolling the dice with someone new, given the Democrats and the media today, is VERY RISKY.
I still fly my Trump flag and the US flag at half mast.
“I voted for trump both times. But, his time to be POTUS has passed. If he runs again the Dems will probably keep both the presidency and the senate.”
I remember the prediction right before the 2016 election that Skunk Cabbage would win 48 states in a Reagan-style landslide.
...funny how things work out with Trump on the ballot.
Voting fraud was the reason, mail voting was the vehicle.
If voting by mail was honest, Trump swamped slow joe, but...
He probably should wear a bullet proof vest in the shower even. Have a food taster as well.
The leftist and globalist hate him that much.
I support President Trump. You can read my remarks to Mr. Brown at TownHall. I write under my given name, Theresa Heitz.
“Trump would serve the country best by identifying and supporting conservative candidates and staging many conservative rally.”
I know, explaining Trump to the ‘normal people’ is tough. So let’s take a ‘safe conservative’, who is beloved by the media and respected by the opposition...and lose with CLASS.
I Love Donald Trump and Melania is the most elegant 1st Lady that history every provided to any country as far as I’m concerned. But I think the writer is correct and we should allow him to be a King Maker rather than a king. Trump can be impulsive and as a result he took some (a lot of) damage. We should use caution that we are idolizing our candidates. As much as I love Donald Trump and Family I think he should probably get behind a candidate.
“I used to think it was Eisenhower, then I thought it was Regan who has been the best president in my lifetime. Now there is no question, it was Trump, I would vote for him over anyone else.”
It’s the “Walk on Glass” analogy that is Trump’s strongest point. His supporters will wait 2 hours to vote and even camp out if necessary. DeSantis (after the media destroys him), or anyone else, maybe...maybe not.
The Stars and Stripes that flew for over 40 years at my home were replaced by the Gadsden Flag and the US Flag only gets put up for several US major days, i.e. Flag Day, the 4th, Veterans Day etc.
As long as a demonRAT is in the stolen White House, that will be the case at my house.
It was Pence who threw Trump under the bus.
But the Democrat insurrection plot is what derailed the plan to have the States look at the fraud .
There are no other non politicians on the hirizon,Desantis is good,but still a politician,Trump loves America,if his personality is abrasive,so be it,that’s what is needed,do you think forcing 5 year olds to take a crap shot full of crap is nice,go on your way,I want someone who tells it like it is, NO WAY Scumbag
+1
Ridiculous.
Blowing up the current Republican part and replacing sissy scum like McConnell, Thune, Cornyn, McCarthy and others is a critical part of fixing America.
Pence threw himself under the bus. He’s done - toast - in politics. Maybe he could get elected to the zoning commission in his home town, but that’s about it.
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