OPINION:
PHOENIX — Hoover Institution senior fellow and best-selling author Victor Davis Hanson, at a speech in Arizona, described Donald Trump as possibly becoming a “tragic hero” presidential contender in 2024 due to changing political scenes and changing conservative mindsets and changing American needs.
It’s a good point. A leading debate among conservatives these days indeed is 2024 — as in, choose: Trump or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But let’s not toss out the best America’s had in years because of nervous nellies in the GOP getting upset, once again, at Trump’s manner of speaking. Which is to say, at Trump’s manner of boldly going with speech where few others have gone.
The media can’t wait to pit the two and in so doing, blow open a massive hole for Democrats to win.
“Trump takes aim at Ron DeSantis, suggesting he’s a 2024 rival,” ABC News wrote.
“Trump goes to war against DeSantis,” Politico wrote.
“Trump-DeSantis Rivalry Takes Off as Florida Governor Builds 2024 Buzz,” The Wall Street Journal wrote.
And then this one from CNN — can’t make Trump happy: “Ron DeSantis is officially in Donald Trump’s head.”
Listen to the media — listen to the Republicans In Name Only who always hated MAGA — and it’s as if Trump’s times has come to an end.
Maybe. Maybe not. Voters, not prima donnas in the press, will ultimately have the say on that.
Trump came at a time in politics when conservatives were fed up with their elected going to Washington, D.C., and forgetting the promises made on the campaign trail — and more than that, actually working with Democrats so much Democrats didn’t even have to fight for their wins. Gang of Eight immigration reform? Debt ceiling hike? Yet another debt ceiling hike? Repeal Obamacare?
Trump called out the border.
Trump called out the failures of Democrats and Republicans, both.
Trump promised a non-political, outsider approach to solving America’s problems. And on that, he succeeded, and then some. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He tightened up borders and made public arrests of illegals. He brought businesses back from the brink of exiting America, stage left, after the previous Barack Obama’s threats to hike corporate taxes in double-digit amounts. He called out the globalists and elitists at the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization and more as the globalists and elitists and anti-American forces they were — and still are. He pulled America from the disastrous climate treaty — and nuclear agreement. He fought off a rabidly hateful Democrat class; an even more hateful media conglomerate — and artfully, determinedly, doggedly attacked those who attacked him. Democrats and their water carriers in the press weren’t used to being attacked. He didn’t care. He did it anyway.
The economy was good. Jobs’ numbers were good. Inflation levels were good.
Then came the 2022 midterms and Republicans didn’t do as well as hyped. So there stands Trump, an easy target.
“Trump Under Fire From Within GOP After Midterms,” The New York Times snarked.
“Republicans have someone to blame for their disappointing result: Donald Trump,” The Guardian jeered.
Meanwhile, in the Florida race, DeSantis soared to victory. So there stands an anti-Trumper’s dream — an alternative to Trump. Talk of the conservative town has become whether or not to dump Trump and stick with DeSantis for 2024.
Talk of conservative circles is that DeSantis is just like Trump, only without the crude social media presence.
This is where the “tragic hero” tag comes into play, Hanson said.
Like a tragic hero, Hanson said, some Republicans might have seen Trump as the go-to guy in 2016 to fight off the far left, to ride roughshod over growing globalist influence in America, to close borders and crack down on lawbreakers and put away criminals where they belong — off the streets and in the jails — and these same some may have excused his bold demeanor and name-calling ways because the problems facing America were too numerous to count. But after Trump the President solved the problems, Hanson went on, then Trump the Man became more the focus. And let’s be serious: Trump the Man ain’t changing his character. So now voters, conservatives, Republicans will have to decide if his demeanor is getting too much in the way of his potential to govern.
It’s not.
Not even when he attacks DeSantis.
It’s not.
Tossing Trump to the side now would be folly. Saying his time has gone would be both fickle and foolish. DeSantis is great. But so is Trump. And Trump is a known factor as a great president. So what if he’s more president of the people than the elites would like? That’s America. America’s filled with just such leaders. Americans love their street fighters.
The same Trump that stubbornly recognized the capital of Israel as Jerusalem also called out North Korea leader Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.”
The same Trump that ousted the “deep state” forces of America’s intelligence agencies and rooted out the runaway bureaucrats who were running away with the constitutional rights of citizens also jabbed the FBI’s James Comey as a “slime ball,” Andrew McCabe as a “poor man’s J. Edgar Hoover” and Peter Strzok as a “sick loser.”
So what. Take it or leave it. Toning down Trump does not leave a Trump. It brings a Mitt Romney. Or a Lisa Murkowski. Or a Mitch McConnell or any number of other Republicans who may speak softy but also carry soft sticks. Remember John McCain? How about Liz Cheney? Perish the thought.
Really, with Trump, you have to take it all — or leave it all.
A leopard can’t change spots — nor should it.
DeSantis will have his shot at the White House. Just not now. Not until Trump has another four years to fix the failures of Joe Biden — and Make America Great Once Again.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.