OPINION:
President Donald Trump has taken a hard-core stand for his long-promised border wall, and this has put him in a deep, deep dump with the American people — so go the polls.
But let’s remember: These are the same polls that put Hillary Clinton in the White House. By wide margins, in some cases.
Trump’s stand for the American people on border security is an inspiration, pure and simple. What other politician, what other presidential candidate from the field of GOP hopefuls on the primary trail in 2015-16, would have the same boldness — the same fierce stubbornness, really — to withstand what Trump’s going through right now to secure U.S. borders?
“The majority of Americans are against Trump on the wall and the shutdown,” CNN blared in a headline.
“Poll: Only die-hard Trump fans oppose compromise on border wall shutdown dispute,” the Hill blasted in another.
Those were from this week.
From December: “69% of Americans Don’t Think Trump’s Border Wall Is a Priority, Poll Says,” Fortune reported.
“Americans Oppose Border Walls, Favor Dealing With DACA,” Gallup’s news service wrote in June.
But the devil’s in the details, as they say. Take a look at the polls themselves and the numbers, the questions, the ordering of questions, can say any number of things. The Morning Consult poll used by the media in December to blast Trump and his wall as contrary to U.S. will was broken into so many demographic categories that the conclusions were nebulous, at best. Meanwhile, CNN admits in its own “majority of Americans are against Trump” story that the poll doesn’t exactly say that.
From CNN’s piece: “The average of polls taken since the shutdown began to indicate that Americans are blaming Republicans for the shutdown. … The good news for Trump and Republicans is that it is not clear their position on the shutdown is any worse than it was before it began. Polls before the shutdown started indicated that Americans would blame Republicans for a shutdown by about a 15 to 20 point margin, which is about where the polls are now.”
In other words: With Republicans, it’s a danged if you do, danged if you don’t scenario. Republicans, no matter what, always take the heat in the media.
And that only underscores what conservative voters have been screaming at their Republican representatives in Congress for years — to stand strong against Democrats and follow through on campaign promises.
This is where Trump really shines.
He faces the storm, he fights the leftists, he stands up to Democratic strategies and deceptions, he hits the media head-on, he ignores the flagrantly false polls, he outs and scuttles the elitist designs of establishment GOPers and RINOs — and he does all this for love of American citizens and country, to preserve the greatness of the nation for future generations.
And in a time when politicians regularly say one thing on the campaign trail and do entirely another once seated in office, that’s inspiring.
That’s inspirational.
What’s more, the polls and headlines can crow all they want about Americans’ displeasure with the idea of building a border wall. But that’s bunk. Trump won the White House on border security, national security and his vow to build a wall. If — no, make that when — he accomplishes this feat, his voters will reward him with a second White House term.
Don’t expect the polls to reflect this commonsense reality, though.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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