OPINION:
Donald Trump won the 2016 election because American voters had more faith in a “reality television” star to remain in character than they did in a lifelong politician to keep her promises. In short, “reality television” is more true and honest these days than your professional politician.
Take President Biden, who calls himself “Middle Class Joe,” “Lunch Bucket Joe” and “Scranton Joe.” Not a single living, breathing human in America other than Mr. Biden himself has ever called him these things. Not even his own wife calls him those things. And his own children call him “the Big Guy.”
But Mr. Biden calls himself “Middle Class Joe.” And he wants you to think other people call him “Middle Class Joe.”
It is all a lie.
East Palestine, Ohio, is a small, working-class town left to hopeless poverty and rust by the globalist dreams of politicians like Mr. Biden. A train passing through the old husk of a town jumps the tracks and overturns.
Politicians decide the best solution to clear the tracks for the next train to pass the town by is to spill the tankers full of vinyl chloride into a gravel ditch running along the tracks and light it on fire. As a result, the politicians sparked a black mushroom cloud and turned East Palestine into a Superfund environmental catastrophe.
But who really cares so long as the next train passing the town by doesn’t have to get held up long in East Palestine.
What’s interesting is that Mr. Biden also calls himself “Amtrak Joe” — because he claims to love the train. But not the one grimy, graffitied freight train that rumbles through places like East Palestine. He likes the fast, clean, bullet-shaped train that zips at high speeds between Washington and Wilmington, Delaware, where he has several vacation homes and has represented the credit card industry for 50 years.
His real names should be “Acela Joe” or “Credit Card Company Joe.” Or maybe “Late-Fees Joe.” Or “Bankruptcy Joe.” Or “Interest Rate Joe.” Or “Collections Joe.”
But whatever you call him, it should not be “Middle Class Joe.”
As the rest of the civilized world surveyed the horror of East Palestine over the last few days, “Acela Joe” was nowhere to be found. Nor was his impotent secretary of transportation. Dead frogs and dead fish float in the creeks of East Palestine that have been turned into toxic slicks. Residents break out in hot rashes and spend sleepless nights coughing up blood.
But “Acela Joe” has other interests.
He was halfway around the world celebrating the first anniversary of his war in Ukraine. He carried with him the promise of billions and billions more in American taxpayer dollars to keep the war going. This, on top of tens of billions of dollars, “Middle Class Joe” has already sent Ukraine.
Maybe we should call him “Ukraine Joe.”
East Palestine is the ATM for Ukraine and the U.S. government war machine that profits from such wars.
Meanwhile, Mr. Trump, the true and honest reality television star, was in East Palestine to survey the damage.
He met with residents and vowed to use all his power to bring attention to their miserable plight. And seek justice for them.
Mr. Trump heralded a private American trucking executive who does not rely on American taxpayers or the U.S. war machine for the hard-earned tax dollars of innocent citizens. He, too, had come to East Palestine to survey the damage.
He brought truckloads of bottled water for residents to drink since the water provided by the politicians in charge had turned into toxic swill.
While in East Palestine, Mr. Trump went to McDonald’s and bought cheeseburgers and fries for anyone who wanted them — something “Acela Joe” would never do.
• Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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