OPINION:
President Donald Trump’s just sent out a Twitter post that went like this: “Rush Limbaugh is a great guy who truly gets it!”
Wait for it, wait for it. Wait for liberals and conservatives both to squirm.
In the Republican world — the non-elitist, non-establishment GOP world — the tweet represents a metaphorical joining of powerhouse conservative minds, a brotherly kinship of giants of the political and cultural arenas. In simplest terms, Trump’s the guy all the world’s watching; Rush is the guy all the (radio) world’s listening.
Neither are accepted by the left as intellectually worthy, or by the establishment-minded of the right, as properly partisan, though. Trump speaks, Limbaugh speaks, and all the elitists shift uncomfortably in their seats.
And yet: Both are giants. Both call their own shots. Both run against the grain and are usually, most frequently, almost always, proven correct.
Take immigration.
The left, the media and the pansy-types of the right are wringing hands right now over Trump’s threat to shut down the government to win the budget battle on border control.
“Trump’s government shutdown threat is big trouble for GOP,” blasted one CNN headline.
And from The Washington Post, this: “Trump’s shutdown threat upends congressional GOP plan to fund government.”
But Limbaugh, on his most recent broadcast, reported by Breitbart, disdained the woe for some good old-fashioned logic.
“This is an effort, I think,” Limbaugh said, “on Trump’s part to ratchet up the energy, the turnout over the issue that got him elected.”
Makes sense. It also makes sense that Trump’s dig-in on immigration control is the realization of promises made long ago to voters, back when he was still a ghost of a candidate among more than a dozen Republican primary contenders.
Elections loom and Congress has stymied on this matter long enough.
“One of the reasons we need Great Border Security,” Trump tweeted, right after tweeting the praise for Limbaugh, “is that Mexico’s murder rate in 2017 increased by 27% to 31,174 people killed, a record! The Democrats want Open Borders. I want Maximum Border Security and respect for ICE and our great Law Enforcement Professionals!”
Yes, let the Dems campaign on a platform of abolishing ICE — and the Republicans slap the left with the cold hard national security and citizen safety facts of open borders. Only the most irrational could withstand the fire from savvy and schooled voters.
Truth is, Trump’s border controls are still a winner with the American people — no matter how many sad sack stories the mainstream media comes up with about children separated from parents.
It’s not just Limbaugh who gets it. It’s the voters who stood by Trump in 2016, and who still stand by him now, who get it, too.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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