NEWS AND OPINION:
President-elect Donald Trump mesmerized and often terrified the left-leaning news media, which responded with negative, even incredulous coverage for months during the election. One major study found that 91 percent of that coverage was critical.
Despite the hostility, Mr. Trump’s story has emerged unsullied, and it is both uplifting and inspiring. A wide array of observers offered candid takes on candidate Trump throughout 2016; here is his saga, as told through items which appeared in Inside the Beltway this year.
THE FIRST FEW MONTHS
Jan. 19: Jeffrey Lord, author and American Spectator columnist:
“When Donald Trump launched his campaign, the media treated him like a joke. The Republican establishment treated him like an inconvenience. But at campaign stop after campaign stop, month after month, Trump has drawn astonishing numbers of supporters. With less than two weeks to go before the Iowa Caucuses, Trump is the front leader. Why? Because Donald Trump is exactly what America needs right now.”
Jan. 22: Rupert Adams, spokesman for London-based William Hill, the world’s biggest bookmaker:
“We can report that Donald Trump is for the first time the favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination at 5/4, having started at 33/1. He is the 10/3 favorite to become the next President of the United States.”
March 7: Michael Goodwin, New York Post columnist:
“The home stretch of the nomination race is going to be ferocious, and if he survives, Trump faces a general election war against Hillary Clinton unlike any in modern times. Is Trump built to go the distance? Can he close the deal of a lifetime? Yes, he can. To keep his eye on the prize, he might channel his inner Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach who also was excellent at closing the deal. ’Winning isn’t everything,’ Lombardi said. ’It’s the only thing.’”
March 30: The National Border Patrol Council:
“We need a person in the White House who doesn’t fear the media, who doesn’t embrace political correctness, who doesn’t need the money, who is familiar with success, who won’t bow to foreign dictators, who is pro-military and values law enforcement, and who is angry for America and not subservient to the interests of other nations. Donald Trump is such a man.”
THE BATTLE RAGES
April 21: Donald Trump to Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
“We’ve been doing well. I’ve done well my whole life. I’ve had victories my whole life. So we’re going to have another victory.”
May 6: Democratic National Committee, in a public statement following news that Mr. Trump was the presumptive Republican nominee.
“Yikes.”
May 16: John Harris, culture writer for the Guardian, after five days in Indiana following the Trump campaign:
“Almost none of the Trumpites I met seemed to be the gun-toting zealots of liberal demonology.”
June 3: Lydia Saad, Gallup poll analyst;
“If the race for president comes down to Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, Trump could benefit from an edge in public confidence on the issue Americans are prioritizing most this election. Economy, jobs, terrorism, national security, taxes, the federal government, gun policy and immigration.”
June 30: James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family:
“Donald Trump appears to be tender to things of the Spirit. All I can tell you is that we have only two choices. Hillary or Donald. Hillary scares me to death. If Christians stay home because he isn’t a better candidate, Hillary will run the world for perhaps eight years. The very thought haunts my nights and days.”
A PROMISING TRAJECTORY
Aug. 8: Hillary Clinton; public fundraising message:
“He may still beat me.”
Sept. 14: Actor Robert Davi; public video rebuttal to “deplorables,” Mrs. Clinton’s characterization of Trump supporters.
“Let’s be deplorable. We’re deplorable because we stand for America first. We want foreign and domestic policy to be American first. We’re deplorable because we stand for the national anthem. We’re deplorable because we want God to bless America. We’re deplorable because we’re voting Trump/Pence 2016.”
Sept. 29: Actor Jon Voight; to Fox News:
“Donald Trump has no blood on his hands, as does Hillary. Remember Benghazi, remember Benghazi. And I can tell you this: One thing you can be sure of is that Donald Trump is no liar. I know Donald Trump. I know the things that he says, and I find them to be true. He says exactly what needs to be said. And he tells the truth.”
Oct. 11: Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, commenting on media hostility:
“Sometimes I have to turn my TV on with a stick.”
THE AMAZING FINALE
Election night, following his victory: President-elect Donald Trump:
“Now it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me. It’s been an amazing two-year period. And I love this country.”
Nov. 9: Evangelist Franklin Graham:
“Did God show up? In watching the news after the election, the secular media keep asking ’How did this happen?’ ’What went wrong?’ ’How did we miss this?’ Some are in shock. Political pundits are stunned. Many thought the Trump/Pence ticket didn’t have a chance. None of them understand the God-factor.”
“Hundreds of thousands of Christians from across the United States have been praying. This year they came out to every state capitol to pray for this election and for the future of America. Prayer groups were started. Families prayed. Churches prayed. Then Christians went to the polls, and God showed up.”
• Happy New Year, and thank you for reading Inside the Beltway.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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