OPINION:
The biggest difference between former President Donald Trump’s victory in 2016 and 2024 is Sherlock Holmes’ “dog that didn’t bark.”
In 2016, I remember all too vividly walking out of Trump Tower from the campaign headquarters the night after the election only to be greeted by howling protesters flooding the streets of Manhattan.
Not this time. This time, a beautiful calm has descended over this American nation.
Even those who oppose Mr. Trump understand that he will bring this nation safety, security, and prosperity. Even those women who might have voted for Vice President Kamala Harris on abortion understand they will be better able to afford to raise a family should they choose to have children.
For the Trump landslide, I want to offer my thanks first to Mr. Trump, not just for tirelessly campaigning through the last 60 days while his opponent sucked the wind. We must also thank my old boss for the preceding five years in which this ultimate warrior went through the hell of a losing campaign, myriad election interference efforts, a relentless smear campaign by the legacy media, and the slings and arrows of a weaponized justice system. He could have gone quietly into that good night in 2020 and shot par well into his 90s, but he literally put his life on the line for us.
We must also thank J.D. Vance for being the kind of running mate that Tampon Bug-eyed Punch line Tim Walz could only dream about. Mr. Vance’s dissection of Mr. Walz in the one vice presidential debate marked an inflection point in the overall campaign that could not have come at a better time.
The new chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and the inestimable Dan Scavino, must also get a big thanks not just for helping to orchestrate and message a landslide but also for having Mr. Trump’s back for over a decade.
There are many other unsung heroes, and there are not enough words in this column to note even a small fraction of them. Forgive me for not naming you, but we in Trump Land know who you are, and so does the Boss.
As for some other well-deserved thanks, it’s time to put my tongue in my cheek. I’d first like to thank President Biden for being so easily duped to step down by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, George Clooney, James Carville, Bill Maher, and George Stephanopoulos.
A joy-filled thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris herself for thinking the American people are so stupid that she could run a campaign from the political equivalent of a Pope-mobile that would shield her from any kind of unfriendly media or public scrutiny.
A big shoutout to Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Bruce Springsteen for proving that the only way Kamala Harris could fill an auditorium was to pack the stage with stars. Fortunately, Ms. Harris never learned the lesson that she should have spoken before the performers so she wouldn’t have to face so many empty seats after they were done.
A very special thanks to former President Barack Obama for an effete, condescending lecture that drove proud Black men into the Trump camp. Michelle Obama was almost as effective at alienating white voters.
Somewhere over the last four years, once dear sweet go high Ms. Obama lost the grace that made her such a political threat. Instead, she spewed go low viperous anger, trying to make the election about what it never was: Race.
Bless you, Mark Cuban, energizing strong Republican and independent women. Here’s a narcissist caught in unrequited love — Mr. Cuban loves the camera but the camera hates him. Are you listening smug Maher and smugger Jon Stewart?
By far, my biggest thanks must go to the legacy media, which simultaneously drove its credibility into the ground and sent Mr. Trump’s popularity soaring with its over-the-top Whoopi Goldberg, Morning Joe, Joyless Reid, and Rachel Maddow critiques.
Does Ms. Goldberg know that her daily Halloween costume garishness and Trump-hating persona on The View appeals to only a small sliver of Americana that loves a churlish clown? Does the Trump turncoat Alyssa Farah realize how small, petty, and smug she presents?
A shoutout to CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash for conducting the only fair debate in the last three presidential elections. ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis paled in comparison and merely put an exclamation point on the media’s unfairness.
By the way, God bless CBS for getting caught switching an answer to a question in your Harris interview — it was just priceless and free Trump media. The only thing more fun was catching CNN’s Donna Brazile slipping questions to Hillary Clinton.
Does the fake news legacy media understand that its legacy now is going from an American institution once trusted by 90% of Americans before Mr. Trump to only 10% now after almost a decade of the unfair trashing of Mr. Trump?
In contrast, Newsmax should be profusely thanked for its rise to a credible and formidable alternative to a subtly but all too often sinisterly anti-Trump Fox News. A shout out right here to The Washington Times, Kelly Sadler, and Charles Hurt for putting together the best commentary section of any major newspaper in the country. And an honorable mention to News Nation, which is at least trying to run down the middle of the road between liberal and conservative media outlets.
Thanks also to Real America’s Voice for being at the vanguard of Trump’s Deplorable Army, with guerrilla warfare shows like that of Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, and John Solomon. Mr. Bannon’s posse organized a hostile takeover of local Republican parties and precinct captains, Mr. Kirk’s youth movement mobilized the Gen Zers and Millennials, and it was a sight to behold.
Finally, before putting them in jail, we must thank Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, Fani Willis Alvin Bragg, Arthur Engoron, and Juan Merchan for weaponizing our justice system to steal Mr. Trump’s money, drain him of legal fees, threaten him with 700 years of prison, and put Trump advisers like me in prison for simply doing our duty. Through such weaponized injustice, Mr. Trump went from being far down in the polls on the crucial threat to democracy issue to skyrocketing up right past Ms. Harris and neutralizing the issue.
Ultimately, we must thank the American people for piercing the veil of the legacy media’s lies. We now have a chance to reboot our democracy and Fourth Estate and get on with the business of making America safe, secure, peaceful, strong, healthy, and great again. Mr. Trump is more than ready to do that.
• Peter Navarro served as Donald Trump’s manufacturing czar and chief China hawk. He is the author of The New MAGA Deal: The Unofficial Deplorables Guide to Donald Trump’s 2024 Platform. Follow him at www.peternavarro.substack.com where this article appears.
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